Animal health pharmaceutical industry

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Pharmacology
• Animal Health Economics
• Food Safety Microbiology

Background:

• The animal health pharmaceutical industry voluntarily reports antimicrobial active ingredient volumes sold in the U.S.
• Regulatory requirements mandate reporting of finished product distribution data to the FDA for surveillance and pharmacovigilance.
• Antimicrobial usage data has potential applications in risk assessments, including evaluations of microbiological safety for food animal antimicrobials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss the complexities and challenges in compiling national antimicrobial usage data in the U.S. animal health sector.
• To highlight the limitations of current data reporting for comprehensive usage analysis.
• To recommend alternative approaches for promoting prudent antimicrobial use.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing reporting practices for antimicrobial ingredients and finished products in the U.S. animal health industry.
• Identification of challenges hindering the compilation of national antimicrobial usage data, including confidentiality, auditing, and practice variations.
• Analysis of the relevance of reported volumes in the context of the U.S. animal population.

Main Results:

• While data on antimicrobial ingredient sales and product distribution exists, national usage data compilation is hindered by significant challenges.
• Factors such as confidentiality, variations in field practices, population dynamics, and generic usage complicate accurate national data aggregation.
• Reported volumes of antimicrobials require contextualization relative to the large number of animals under husbandry in the U.S.

Conclusions:

• Compiling comprehensive national antimicrobial usage data in food animals presents considerable difficulties.
• Local usage programs are currently more effective than national data aggregation for promoting prudent antimicrobial use.
• Further development of clearly defined applications for national usage data is needed to enhance its utility.