On 10 July 2026, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate opened a new digital reporting service for Marketing Authorisation Holders submitting pharmacovigilance data on animal medicines. The launch marks the next stage in the directorate's move towards digital reporting for post-market safety monitoring. The change follows the VMD's Adverse Event Reporting Service, which went live on 20 May 2026 for animal owners, veterinary professionals and Suitably Qualified Persons. Taken together, the two services show the regulator separating public and professional reporting routes while moving both onto modern digital systems.
According to the VMD, the new Industry Pharmacovigilance Reporting Service brings several previously separate submission types into one platform. These include Benefit-Risk Submission Reports, Pharmacovigilance Sales Submissions, dose factor justifications, signal notifications and XML reports. For regulated firms, that matters because pharmacovigilance duties do not sit in a single form or reporting cycle. A single entry point is intended to reduce fragmented submission routes and give compliance teams a clearer administrative process.
The VMD said the service has been designed to help MAHs fulfil their legislative requirements more easily than under earlier reporting routes. The department has highlighted submission status tracking, exportable logs, in-system validation, digital forms for Benefit-Risk Submission Reports and signal notifications, and a built-in product dictionary for selecting product groups and related data. In practical terms, those functions should improve traceability. Status tracking and exportable logs provide a stronger audit record, while validation checks may reduce avoidable errors before material reaches the regulator.
The product dictionary is a notable administrative change. By allowing users to visualise product groups and linked product information inside the service, the VMD is trying to reduce the amount of manual cross-checking that often slows safety submissions. That is relevant for both industry and government. Standardised product selection is intended to make reports more consistent on receipt, which should make regulatory review and follow-up work more straightforward.
The service has been released as an optional beta rather than a full replacement for existing routes. The VMD is asking MAHs to use the in-service feedback function, with further improvements and additional functionality planned over the next year. This staged roll-out matters for compliance planning. It allows the directorate to test the system in live use without immediately removing the route that companies already know, which reduces the risk of disruption during the changeover.
For now, MAHs that do not wish to use the beta service may continue to submit reports through the VMDS secure messaging service. No compulsory switch has been announced in the government notice, and access to the new platform is being handled through the official guidance page for reporting pharmacovigilance data for veterinary medicines. The immediate policy message is clear. The VMD is building a more structured digital route for animal medicines safety data while keeping transitional flexibility for regulated firms. For compliance teams, the near-term question is less whether reporting duties have changed than whether the new system offers a more efficient way to meet them.