Member News
13th April 2011
Ahead of their annual dinner, Phil Sketchley of the National Office of Animal Health discusses the role of the animal medicines industry in Brussels and Westminster.
Could you tell us a little about today's annual dinner and its purpose?
The National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) annual dinner will be celebrating NOAH's 25th anniversary this year. We are primarily seeking to draw attention to the role of the animal medicines industry.
There will be a wide attendance from not only the pharmaceutical industry and regulatory bodies , but also colleagues involved with the health of both companion animal and food animals. We have 280 people attending, which is a record.
NOAH's primary role as an organisation is to reflect the important position of animal medicines in food safety, food security and animal health and welfare.
Speaking on behalf of NOAH will be our chairman, Bob Parmenter. The guest speaker will be Professor Steve Dean, the chief executive of the Veterinary Medicines Directive, an agency of Defra ¬the primary regulators of animal medicines in the UK.
Professor Dean is due to retire in a few months' time and he will be reflecting on his experience both as an industry member before he joined the regulatory framework and on his time in regulation.
NOAH is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. What have been the major milestones of the past quarter century?
Like many industries, there has been a huge amount of change over the last 25 years. In 1986, when NOAH was formed, over 70 per cent of the medicines used in the UK were primarily used for livestock. Companion animals were not really a major market for animal medicines.
Over the last 25 years we have seen a big change in this balance in the UK, and now medicines that are used to prevent disease in companion animals are far in excess of those used in livestock. It is now 55 per cent for companion animals and 45 per cent for livestock.
We have seen tremendous advances in animal medicines over the last quarter of a century. For example, in the 1980s, painkillers for companion animals were not very advanced, but now there is a huge range of sedatives and painkillers for pets. As a result surgery for companion animals is far better than it was 25 years ago, with much better pain relief .
In livestock, one of the biggest changes we have seen is in the development of vaccines to prevent disease. Recently we have been aware of bluetongue, a new and emerging disease in the UK. Our industry reacted very quickly to this and had a vaccine brought to the UK market within months of the disease being threatened.
Pets and livestock have been protected by a wide range of vaccines and medicines over the last 25 years. Clearly it has been advances in biotechnology that have helped with some of the tremendous strides in preventative vaccines coming to the marketplace. The research time for this is substantial. It takes 8-12 years to get an animal medicine to market, with huge costs involved. However, as an industry, we are proud that this research is coming to fruition with modern medicines for both pets and livestock.
How has the UK animal medicines industry changed over the last 25 years and what has NOAH's role been in facilitating these changes?
NOAH's role is primarily to act as a spokesperson for all the organisations in the pharmaceutical industry involved in research and development. As an industry we welcome the regulatory process. It is important that medicines that come to the market, particularly those for use in livestock and food production, are thoroughly tested. In the 25 years since NOAH was formed we have seen huge developments in that regulatory process.
What many people are not necessarily aware of is that the regulatory process for animal medicines is very similar, if not more rigorous, than it is for human medicines. The regulatory process for animal medicines emanates from its human counterpart.
Both industry and the regulators work closely together to ensure that food is safe and that animal welfare is enhanced by animal medicines, rather than compromised by them.
Over the last 25 years we have also seen the UK become part of the European framework and work under an overarching regulatory set-up devised by the European Medicines Agency.
However, the UK has certain issues of relevance that the rest of Europe does not – diseases are not always the same across European member states.
Probably the biggest change that I have seen, and our members have seen, over the last 25 years is the huge acceleration in research technology, which has vastly benefited animal health. The pace of change has been quite remarkable.
At NOAH we also attempt to reach the wider public who do not understand the complexity of the research involved in developing medicine s and vaccines. It is NOAH's role to communicate the positive effects that those medicines have on society.
The Code of Practice for the Promotion of Animal Medicines is to be republished in July. What changes, if any, are you anticipating in this?
The Code is in its 21st iteration. That reflects that in a 25-year period it has kept pace with change and marketing practices.
There are no major changes in the Code this year, as we feel it is already a very comprehensive, self-regulatory framework for our industry. The Code was originally based on the framework of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry ABPI, which is the human equivalent of NOAH , and which NOAH used to be a part of until its independence 25 years ago .
The Code has a very sound foundation; however there have been recent changes in the approach of communications to farmers. In the UK we very much regard farmers both as an industry and, from a government perspective, as professional producers of food.
NOAH has reflected on how we communicate to farmers and, within the Code this year, there will be changes in how we emphasise to farmers the responsible use of medicines.
It is important that medicines are used correctly and, therefore, our communications through the Code will follow strict processes and procedures on what we should be communicating to farmers
How will you make sure that the UK's voice is heard during the review of the EU Veterinary Medicines Directive?
NOAH has direct contact with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and we travel to Brussels several times a year to meet with UK MEPs.
We are also a major member of the International Federation of Animal Health (IFAH)-Europe. They have regular input into both the European Commission and the European Parliament. Myself and my colleagues on the NOAH committee are represented on all IFAH committees, notably public relations and technical and strategic committees dealing with the science of medicines.
As a result, we are confident that the UK's opinions are known and well represented within the European framework.
We do appreciate that this is extremely important in a European market. We are working very closely with our colleagues to develop a new regulatory framework which is going under the banner of 'one-one-one'– one dossier, one authorisation and one product. This essentially means that if a product is authorised in one member state in Europe, we would like to see it authorised in all member states.
What messages does NOAH seek to send to parliamentarians?
Animals need medicines just as much as humans do. Sometimes medicines are seen in a negative context, but we must remember that, over the last century, medicines have enabled both humans and animals to be far healthier.
We firmly believe that our industry has contributed significantly to improvements in animal health and welfare.
NOAH will be seeking dialogue with parliamentarians over the next few years. We are currently undertaking a review of all the legislation in Europe that impacts on animal medicines. The current directive that governs medicines within Europe is up for review – the last was brought out in 2004 and there is a ten-year review process.
As the draft is currently being developed in Brussels, we will be working very closely with UK parliamentarians to ensure that they understand those draft regulations and their impact on UK business and their constituents.
If there are changes that we feel demand the attention of UK parliamentarians, we will be looking for their support.
For further information please view:
www.pethealthinfo.org.uk
www.noahcompendium.co.uk
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.