Drug Code in detail

# The term drug code refers to the unique numeric key in the B format of the dictionary. A drug code identifies a name, either a trade name or a generic Preferred Name.
# A Drug Code is aggregated from Drug Record Number (Drecno),Sequence number 1 and Sequence number 2.
# The code differs from the Medicinal Product ID in that it has a meaning.
# The code is not only a unique identifier of a name – it also gives information about the active ingredients and salt/ester form of the substance.

For example:
A Drecno identifies a generic identification level. In most cases the generic identification level is the one active ingredient, but it can also identify a unique combination of active
ingredients.
Sequence number 1 : It identifies the salt or the ester of the active ingredient.
Sequence number 2 : It identifies the trade names and in some cases a synonym to a generic name. Eg ; Acetaminophen as a synonym to Paracetamol.
Combination products : Products with more than one active ingredient – needs to have a separate coding
principle. It is not possible to include the names of all active ingredients in the name field, so the first trade name with the unique combination of ingredients will be the preferred name though it is not a generic name.

Use of Codes in Data analysis and Retrievals :
The identification levels are useful for querying and analysis of aggregate data.
# The Drecno can be used to identify all products with the same active ingredient(s)
# The Drecno + Sequence number 1 to identify different salts.
# The Drecno + Sequence number 1 + Sequence number 2 to identify a trade name.