According to the sales survey co-ordinated by the UK's National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) and published in its Annual Report 2012-13, the overall market for sales of animal medicines in the UK for the 12 months ending December 2012 was £498 million. This figure is based on sales of authorised products across the UK legal distribution categories, net of all discounts, at ex-manufacturers' prices. The survey is estimated to cover 90 per cent of the total UK market.

Survey participants for the 2012 survey were Bayer plc, Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd, Ceva Animal Health Ltd, Chanelle Animal Health, Dechra Veterinary Products, Elanco Animal Health, Forum Products Ltd, MSD Animal Health, Merial Animal Health Ltd, Novartis Animal Health UK Ltd, Pfizer Ltd, Vétoquinol UK Ltd and Virbac Ltd.

Sales by category

Legal category definitions:

• AVM-GSL - Authorised Veterinary Medicine - general sales list - This may be sold by anyone. (74.6 per cent)
• NFA-VPS - Non-food animal medicines -veterinarian, pharmacist, Suitably Qualified Person (SQP). A medicine for companion animals, which must be supplied by a veterinarian, pharmacist, SQP. (15.9 per cent)
• POMS-VPS - Prescription-only medicine - veterinarian, pharmacist, SQP. A medicine for food-producing animals (including horses), to be supplied only on veterinary prescription, which must be prescribed by a veterinarian, pharmacist or SQP (either orally or in writing) and must be supplied by one of those groups of people in accordance with the prescription. (8.3 per cent)
• POM-V - Prescription-only medicine - veterinarian. A medicine to be prescribed only on veterinary prescription, which must be prescribed (either orally or in writing) by a veterinarian to animals under his care following a clinical assessment, and which may be supplied by a veterinarian or a pharmacist in accordance with the prescription. (1.0 per cent)
• SAES - This unofficial term is used to indicated medicines marketed in accordance with the Small Animal Exemption Scheme. These are medicines for use in certain pet species (aquarium fish, cage birds, ferrets, homing pigeons, rabbits, small rodents and terrarium animals); the active ingredient of which has been declared by the Secretary of State as not requiring veterinary control. These medicines are exempt from the requirement for a marketing authorisation and not, therefore, required to prove safety, quality or efficacy but must be manufactured to the same standards as authorised medicines and are subject to pharmovigilance reporting. (0.1 per cent)

Sales by species

Note: Many products are licensed to be used in different species and some for both food-producing animals and pets. Manufacturers do not always know exactly where they will be used. If greater than 90 per cent of sales are estimated to fall within one of the three summary categories, products are allocated to that category. If less than 90 per cent, they are allocated to the multi-category in the survey.