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Quantitative analysis reveals discrepancies in market availability of veterinary medicines for aquaculture, implying critical therapeutic gaps.
Availability of veterinary medicinal products is a critical determinant of health, welfare, and economic sustainability in European aquaculture. This study assessed the changes in the authorization and reported market availability of veterinary medicines for finfish in the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) between 2018 and 2026, by comparing and analyzing data on veterinary medicinal products for aquatic species from the Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA), the FishMedPlus Coalition, and the European Medicines Agency Union Product Database. The results revealed a wide divergence between regulatory authorization and reported availability. While the total number of authorized VMPs nominally increased from 304 in 2018 to 332 in 2025 (+9.2%), the number of reported unique active substances available declined (−16.7%). Crucially, the analysis of 2025 data indicates that only 26.5% of authorized products were reported to be actively available on the market, creating a “paper market” that masks severe therapeutic gaps, particularly in minor fish species such as seabass, seabream, carp, and trout sectors. Potential key drivers identified were limited markets, industry consolidation, increased burden related to stricter environmental requirements, as well as enlarged administrative and financial burdens. Despite EU legislative mechanisms designed to support limited markets, the sector faces stagnation in therapeutic diversity, necessitating continued reliance on the off-label use of medicines.
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Chambers et al. (2026) studied this question.
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