The Veterinary Medicines Directorate has confirmed that a new digital service for reporting adverse events linked to animal medicines is scheduled to go live on 20 May 2026. According to the GOV.UK notice, the service will replace the previous reporting tool and will open first in beta form. For the veterinary medicines sector, the change is administrative rather than legislative, but it is still significant. It changes how safety information can be submitted to the regulator and gives veterinary professionals, SQPs and animal owners a new direct route for raising concerns about medicines in use.
From 20 May 2026, veterinary professionals, Suitably Qualified Persons and animal owners will be able to report adverse events directly to the VMD through the new service. The regulator describes adverse events broadly. They include unexpected or harmful reactions after an animal medicine has been used, as well as cases where a medicine appears not to work as expected. That second category is important for pharmacovigilance. A medicine that fails to deliver the expected effect may point to problems with administration, dosage, product performance or a wider safety issue. In plain terms, pharmacovigilance is the system used to monitor how medicines perform after they are on the market and being used in routine practice.
The VMD says the new portal will include additional guidance to help users submit higher-quality reports. In practical terms, that should mean more complete information at the first submission, with clearer detail on the animal, the medicine involved, the timing of the event and the outcome observed. The department also says the service will connect with existing pharmacovigilance processes, with the aim of improving the efficiency and completeness of safety oversight. Because the portal is being launched as a beta service, users will be able to give feedback after it goes live and the system may be refined where improvements are possible.
For veterinary practices and SQP businesses, the immediate effect is operational. Internal reporting procedures, incident logs and client-facing guidance may need a short review before 20 May 2026 so that suspected adverse events are captured promptly and with enough supporting information to make a useful report. For animal owners, the message from the VMD is that seemingly minor concerns still matter. The regulator says every report adds to the evidence base on how medicines are performing in real-world use across the UK, helping both the VMD and manufacturers identify possible safety concerns and respond where needed.
The new portal does not remove the existing reporting route through the company responsible for the medicine, often referred to as the marketing authorisation holder. The GOV.UK notice makes clear that reports can still be made to that company now, and that this will remain an option after the VMD portal opens. That route carries a legal duty for industry. If a problem is reported to the company, it must share that report with the VMD within 30 days. The May 2026 change therefore adds a more direct reporting service without displacing the established compliance requirement on medicine companies.
Until the new portal opens, current arrangements remain in place. The government notice says concerns can be raised through a veterinary surgeon, through the contact details in the leaflet supplied with an approved animal medicine, or directly with the VMD where an animal has been given a human medicine or a medicine not approved for use in animals. In those latter cases, the VMD asks reporters to email adverse.events@vmd.gov.uk to request a form. Taken together, the change due on 20 May 2026 is intended to make adverse event reporting easier to access while preserving existing reporting channels, with the wider purpose of improving animal safety, animal welfare and the quality of information available to the regulator.