This compares with the UK market for human medicines, which for 2002 was £6.9bn, according to figures from IMS Health.

Sales Survey of Animal Health Products 2002
(£sterling at ex-manufacturers' prices)

	Jan-March	April-June	July-Sept	Oct-Dec	Total 2002	Total 2001
Feed Additives	5 192 812	6 026 049	6 005 350	6 436 870	23 661 081	21 953 275
Pharmaceuticals	53 439 687	62 888 486	68 878 192	63 900 922	249 107 287	237 373 279
Vaccines	18 261 506	19 480 213	23 783 572	24 506 018	86 031 309	82 007 634
Total (survey figure)	76 894 005	88 394 748	98 667 114	94 843 810	358 799 677	341 334 188
Total(with extrapolation for non-participating companies)	84 327 005	96 322 748	107 188 114	101 463 810	389 301 677	358 877 188

What types of medicines are there?

Products can be loosely categorised into three main sections

(a) Preventative medicines

Licensed to stop healthy animals from getting sick or infested with parasites, these include:

• Endoparasiticides, prevent and treat infestations by parasites that invade the body, such as worms, flukes or coccidial protozoa
  
• Ectoparasiticides - prevent and treat infestation by parasites that live on the outside of the animal, for example mites, ticks, fleas, flies
  
• Endectocides - prevent and treat infestation of both types of parasite
  
• Vaccines - prevent diseases caused by certain viral or bacterial infections
  
• Antiseptics - prevent bacterial contamination
  

(b) Therapeutic Medicines

These cure sick animals and include:

• Antibiotics - treat bacterial infection
  
• Hormones - treat reproductive problems
  
• Anti-inflammatories (pain killers)
  
• Others (including cardiovascular medicines, and medicines for digestive disorders)
  

(c) Others

These are medicines to help the veterinarian or the farmer:

• Digestive enhancers - a very small group of specially approved antibiotics to help farm animals get the maximum benefit from their feed
  
• Anaesthetics (includes analgesics and euthanasia products)
  
• Dietary supplements - these are medicines to treat or prevent specific dietary deficiencies, rather than nutritional supplements.
  

The UK market for animal medicines

What are the trends in animal medicine use?

In 1986, when NOAH was formed, around 70% of animal medicines were used in farm livestock. Now over half animal medicine sales, by value, are for companion animal use, and this area continues to grow.

This swing towards companion animal medicine is in part due to the depressed state of UK livestock production, with farmers having less money to invest in their livestock, and there being fewer livestock for them to invest in.

But it is also due to exciting new product developments in the companion animal sector - Britain's pets have every opportunity to live long and healthy lives.

*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% of sales fall within one of the three summary categories, products are allocated to that category. If less than 90%, they are allocated to the 'multi' category in the survey.

Sales by classification

Medicines are classified according to how they may be sold:-