The Veterinary Medicines Directorate has reported the lowest level of animal use in a decade for routine quality control of veterinary vaccines. In the regulator's latest figures, far fewer animals are required to release vaccine batches to the UK market while manufacturers continue to meet safety, quality and effectiveness standards. In regulatory terms, the change sits in batch release testing: the checks carried out before a vaccine can be supplied. The VMD's account is that a growing share of those checks no longer depends on live animals.
According to the VMD report, the average number of animals used to check a single batch fell from 29 in 2013 to 17 in 2024, a reduction of 41%. Total animal use across the system fell by 29% over the same period, even though more vaccines were released. The regulator also recorded a sharp change in coverage. In 2013, 74% of veterinary vaccines released onto the UK market required some animal testing for quality control. By 2024, that figure had fallen to 34%.
The VMD attributes the decline to two linked developments: scientific advances that allow alternative methods to be used, and changes to testing requirements. A significant step came in 2013 with the removal of the routine Target Animal Batch Safety Test, which the report says cut annual animal use by thousands. The regulatory effect is significant. When a routine test is withdrawn or replaced, the change applies across every batch within scope rather than only to newly authorised products.
The report states that horses, cats, dogs, turkeys and pigeons are no longer needed for routine quality control testing of veterinary vaccines. It also says that newly authorised vaccines are increasingly entering the market with animal-free approaches built into their control strategy. For manufacturers, that points to a gradual shift in the evidence accepted by regulators. For farmers, vets and pet owners, Defra's position is that lower animal use is being secured without weakening the checks that keep vaccines safe and effective, including products that help limit some diseases that can pass to people.
The VMD also makes clear that the reduction has limits. Some products, including certain clostridial vaccines and fish vaccines, still present scientific and technical obstacles to replacing animal tests. That is the point where policy ambition meets scientific constraint. According to the regulator, the remaining use of animals is concentrated in areas where validated alternatives are not yet available to deliver the same assurance on quality, safety and effectiveness.
Defra has placed the figures within the government's wider commitment to reduce and, where possible, replace the use of animals in science. Baroness Hayman, the minister for biosecurity and trade, said improved science was cutting animal use while preserving access to vaccines used across farming, veterinary practice and pet care. Abi Seager, chief executive of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, said the results reflected sustained progress by regulators and the animal health sector, and said further reductions would depend on continued work with industry and scientific partners.
The announcement also follows the UK government's 2025 strategy on replacing animals in science, which set out a longer-term plan to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods. In that context, the VMD figures provide a measurable example of the strategy being carried through into routine regulatory practice. The immediate policy effect is that ministers can point to lower animal use without interrupting vaccine supply. The harder work now sits with the remaining product groups, where further change will depend on whether new methods can satisfy regulatory standards for batch release.