FOI - Information regarding Librela
Published 30 October 2025
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vmd-foieir-requests-july-2025/foi-information-regarding-librela
ATI1099 Request
Could you inform me what updated information regarding Librela was sent by yourselves to vets and veterinary practices? Would this mean that all vets and veterinary practices have been made aware of the updated information
Our reply
All medicines whether for human or animal use come with risk, and the benefits of use in wider populations need to outweigh the potential risks. The VMD assesses the safety, quality and efficacy of veterinary medicines before and after authorisation to ensure that the benefit-risk balance remains positive.
The VMD does not directly send information to veterinary practices, instead the VMD publishes the latest available information via multiple routes, as detailed below, and veterinarians can access the latest information via one or all of these routes.
Information on adverse events that have been known to occur following administration of a particular product is available in the product leaflet but also in sections 3.6/4.6 of the Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC). The SPC is a document describing the properties and the officially approved conditions of use of a medicine. The SPC and associated product information are updated as new information is available, and the latest version of an SPC can be found on our publicly available Product Information Database. There is a tab on the Product Information Database for ‘Recently updated’ SPCs.
A summary of changes to authorisations most relevant to vets (such as updates to section 3.6/4.6 of the SPC) are published monthly by the VMD on the VMD Connect page: Vet practice & supply. These same updates are also published in the Vet Record (the official journal of the British Veterinary Association). This is so that veterinarians can be made aware of any important changes to the medications they use and prescribe in the veterinary clinic.
In addition to this, the VMD publish regular safety updates on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/urgent-safety-updates-for-veterinary-medicines. This page is publicly available, and anyone can choose to be notified of these updates via email, by clicking on the ‘Get emails about this page’ button.
Information regarding Librela is also published at the following page: Librela solution for injection in dogs - GOV.UK, and any urgent safety updates and SPC updates regarding Librela are also published via the relevant routes as detailed above.
It is important for veterinary professionals to ensure that this information is reviewed, and any risks discussed with the animal owner or keeper, prior to administering the product.