Monitoring antimicrobial use via CalypsoVet
Regulation (EU) 2019/6 requires all Member States to collect data on the sale and use of antimicrobials by species and category of animal (Article 57). Antimicrobials include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiprotozoa. The collection concerns veterinary medicinal products and medicinal products for human use which may exceptionally be used in animals. In France, the French agency for veterinary medicinal products, within ANSES, is responsible for transmitting these data to the EMA.
CalypsoVet is an information system designed to simplify the administrative procedures of veterinarians. It includes, inter alia, the declaration of prescriptions, cessions and administrations of antimicrobials. CalypsoVet also provides access to pharmacists, manufacturers and distributors of medicated feed to facilitate the reporting of their antimicrobial sales.
The software used in veterinary care establishments had to evolve to interface directly with CalypsoVet. Once a software has validated its ability to transmit antimicrobial use data, its new version must be deployed in veterinary practices. The veterinarian must then agree to the transmission of the data and the transmission of the antimicrobial use data to CalypsoVet can be done automatically. For veterinarians not equipped with veterinary software, a manual transfer data entry module is available. This same module can be used by pharmacists. Manufacturers and distributors of medicated feed shall report their transfers of antimicrobials directly to CalypsoVet by uploading an Excel file.
When CalypsoVet was launched in April 2023, few software packages offered CalypsoVet functionality and data upload started slowly. Since then, most of the software has made the necessary developments to enable veterinarians to declare their antimicrobial uses in an automated manner. Thus, as of September 2025, almost 90% of veterinary care facilities are equipped with CalypsoVet-compatible software; however, just over 20% of them actually transmit their antimicrobial uses. The list of qualified software for the transmission of antimicrobial data to CalypsoVet is available on the website of the French National Order of Veterinarians.
Efforts must therefore continue to ensure that all software publishers are qualified and that all veterinarians activate the reporting process.
Quarterly trend in the number of veterinarians and veterinary care establishments (left-hand axis) transmitting declarations under CalypsoVet and the number of transfers declared (right-hand axis)
(Update date 24/09/2025)
The usage data collected via CalypsoVet is more accurate and closer to the field than the sales data submitted by marketing authorisation holders. In particular, they make it possible to distinguish between subcategories of the same species. In addition, these data provide information on cession dates and on the location of antimicrobial uses. Antimicrobial use profiles by family and pharmaceutical form will be refined in the coming years with better completeness of data on the territory.