Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact animal-based products in medications have on the treatment options for (a) vegetarians and (b) vegans; and if he will take steps to require the switching from animal to plant-based alternatives to non-active ingredients within medicines wherever viable on new products.

The requirements for the information which must appear on medicines labelling is set out in Part 13 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. The primary purpose of the label is to unambiguously identify the medicine and to convey warnings in relation to safe and effective use of the product. There is no legal requirement for a pharmaceutical manufacturer to state whether a particular medicine contains animal-derived ingredients, as this does not convey warnings on the safety of the medicine.

However, the legislation allows for the inclusion of a statement such as ‘suitable for vegetarians/vegans’ where a company can provide evidence to demonstrate that no products of animal origin have been used in the manufacture of the ingredients or the medicine. Where a company proposes to include such a statement on the labelling or in the patient information leaflet, the Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory Agency will evaluate the evidence to determine the validity. Medicines are developed to treat or prevent particular medical conditions or symptoms and are licensed on the basis of quality, safety and efficacy. Although there are many medicines free from animal derived materials, no animal-free treatment options exist as the active ingredient cannot be made synthetically or animal derived materials are necessary for the formulation or manufacture of the product. As technology advances, we expect that more non-animal materials will become available.