§ Mr. MoateTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when stocks of myxomatosis vaccine for pet rabbits will be exhausted; what assessment he has made of the likely consequences for domestic pets; how this situation has arisen; and if he will take steps to secure immediate production of this vaccine.
§ Mr. SoamesDiscussions between licence holders and the licensing authority are confidential matters on which I am unable to comment under the terms of section 118 of the Medicines Act 1968. 1 can confirm however that a licence for myxomatosis vaccine was recently surrendered by the licence holder. Information on the stocks available is not held centrally but there will be no further supplies once those currently held by veterinarians have been exhausted.
Informal discussions have taken place with representatives of the veterinary pharmaceutical industry about the possibility that other companies might wish to make applications for a licence but so far no applications have been forthcoming. This is a commercial decision for the companies concerned and will clearly be influenced by the perceived level of demand for such a product.
Any application would need to be considered against the scientific criteria of safety, quality and efficacy as required by the Medicines Act and would be assessed as speedily as possible.