get_fda_drugs_approved: Search FDA-Approved Drugs by Drug Name

In MedxR: Access Drug Regulatory Data via FDA and Health Canada APIs

Search FDA-Approved Drugs by Drug Name

Description

Retrieves information about FDA-approved drug products from the official Drugs at FDA database that match a specific drug name using the RESTful API endpoint /drug/drugsfda.json?search=<drug_name>.

This includes details such as the application number, sponsor name, approval dates, product information, application type (NDA, ANDA, BLA), and submission details for brand name drugs, generic drugs, and therapeutic biological products approved by the FDA since 1939.

Usage

get_fda_drugs_approved(drug_name)

Arguments

drug_name

A character string representing the name of the drug (brand name or generic name).

Details

This function sends a GET request to the FDA openFDA API. It supports caching via the memoise package to avoid redundant calls, and respects a rate limit between successive API requests.

The Drugs at FDA database contains information about drug products approved since 1939. The majority of labels, approval letters, and reviews are available for products approved since 1998. This database includes brand name drugs, generic drugs, and therapeutic biological products.

If the API request fails, returns no matches, or returns an error status code, the function returns NULL with an informative message.

Value

A tibble with the following columns:

• application_number: FDA application number (NDA, ANDA, or BLA)

• sponsor: Name of the company that holds the application

• brand: Brand or trade name of the approved product

• generic: Generic (non-proprietary) name of the active ingredient

• type: Application type (NDA, ANDA, BLA)

• approval_date: Date the product was approved by FDA

• strength: Dosage strength of the product

• form: Pharmaceutical dosage form

• route: Route of administration

Note

Requires an internet connection.

Source

FDA Drugs at FDA Database via openFDA: https://open.fda.gov/apis/drug/drugsfda/

See Also

GET, fromJSON, as_tibble

Examples

  # This function requires an internet connection and downloads data from FDA
  get_fda_drugs_approved("aspirin")
  get_fda_drugs_approved("lipitor")

MedxR documentation built on Jan. 14, 2026, 5:08 p.m.