# FDA Acronyms & Abbreviations Database (`damilo/fda-acronyms-abbreviations`) Actor Free lookup of 3,800+ official FDA/CDER acronyms and abbreviations. Look up a list of acronyms, search definitions, or export the whole database as JSON, CSV or Excel. No API key, instant results, works as an AI-agent tool. - **URL**: https://apify.com/damilo/fda-acronyms-abbreviations.md - **Developed by:** [Imad](https://apify.com/damilo) (community) - **Categories:** Other, Developer tools, AI - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per usage This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-usage ## What's an Apify Actor? An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md. ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run. For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below. Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`). # README Look up any FDA acronym or abbreviation in seconds, or download the complete official **FDA / CDER acronyms list** — 3,800+ entries — as JSON, CSV or Excel. **Free, no API key, no scraping of fda.gov at run time**: the actor ships with a cleaned copy of the FDA's own acronyms database and answers instantly. ### What is the FDA Acronyms & Abbreviations Database? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) maintains a public [acronyms and abbreviations database](https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/acronyms/index.cfm) — the reference for the terms you meet in FDA guidance documents, drug applications, inspection reports and regulatory correspondence: **ANDA, NDA, BLA, IND, 510(k), GRAS, CGMP, OTC, REMS, PDUFA, CDRH, CBER, ORA** and thousands more. This Apify actor turns that database into a fast lookup and export tool for regulatory affairs, quality, pharmacovigilance, medical writing, legal and data teams: - 🔎 **Look up a list of FDA acronyms** — case-insensitive, punctuation and spaces ignored (`anda`, `ANDA` and `A.N.D.A.` all match) — and get the official definition for each. - 🔍 **Search acronyms and definitions** by keyword, e.g. `biologic`, `inspection`, `labeling`, `clinical`. - 📦 **Export the whole FDA acronyms list** — run with an empty input and download everything as JSON, CSV, Excel or XML. - 🤖 **Use it from code, no-code tools or AI agents** — Apify API, Make, Zapier, n8n, or as a tool through Apify's MCP server. #### What data do you get? | Field | Description | | --- | --- | | `acronym` | The acronym or abbreviation exactly as FDA lists it | | `definition` | FDA's official expansion or definition, in FDA's own wording. About 250 acronyms have several meanings (e.g. `IND`, `NDA`); you get one row per meaning | | `found` | `true` when the acronym exists in the FDA database; `false` rows keep batch lookups aligned with your input | | `matchedBy` | `acronym` (exact lookup), `search` (text search) or `all` (full export) | | `query` | The acronym or search text that produced the row | | `sourceUrl` | Link to the FDA database the data comes from | | `dataVersion` | Date the bundled copy was taken from FDA | ### How to look up FDA acronyms — step by step 1. Click **Try for free**. An Apify account takes a minute, and the free plan is more than enough for this actor. 2. Paste your acronyms into **Acronyms to look up** (one per line), *or* type a word into **Search text**, *or* leave both empty to export the full list. 3. Click **Start**. Results appear in the **Dataset** tab within a couple of seconds. 4. Download them as JSON, CSV, Excel or XML, or fetch them through the API — every run also stores `fda-acronyms.csv` (the complete list) in its key-value store. ### Is the FDA acronyms database free? Yes. **This actor has no usage fee.** A run only consumes Apify platform credit, and a lookup takes about a second at 256 MB of memory, so thousands of lookups fit comfortably in Apify's free monthly allowance. There is no API key to obtain and nothing to install. ### Input examples Look up several acronyms at once: ```json { "acronyms": ["ANDA", "BLA", "CDER", "GRAS", "PDUFA"] } ``` Search definitions for a keyword and cap the output: ```json { "search": "biologic", "limit": 50 } ``` Export the complete database: ```json {} ``` ### Output example ```json [ { "acronym": "ANDA", "definition": "abbreviated new drug application", "found": true, "matchedBy": "acronym", "query": "ANDA", "sourceUrl": "https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/acronyms/index.cfm", "dataVersion": "2026-10-18" }, { "acronym": "XYZ123", "definition": null, "found": false, "matchedBy": "acronym", "query": "XYZ123", "sourceUrl": "https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/acronyms/index.cfm", "dataVersion": "2026-10-18" } ] ``` ### Download the full FDA acronyms list as CSV, JSON or Excel Start the actor with an empty input (`{}`) and open the **Dataset** tab: the *Export* button offers JSON, CSV, Excel (XLSX), XML, HTML and RSS. For a plain CSV file, open the run's **Key-value store** tab and download `fda-acronyms.csv`. You can also fetch either through the API, for example: ``` https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets//items?format=csv ``` ### Use the FDA acronyms database as a tool for AI agents Through [Apify's MCP server](https://apify.com/actors/mcp-server), any agent — Claude, ChatGPT, custom LangChain or LlamaIndex agents — can call this actor to resolve regulatory jargon on the fly: pass a list of acronyms, get back definitions with a `found` flag, no scraping and no hallucinated expansions. Because the data is bundled, responses are deterministic and take about a second. ### FAQ #### What does FDA stand for, and what are the main FDA acronyms? FDA is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Its centers and offices are themselves acronyms you will see everywhere: **CDER** (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research), **CBER** (Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research), **CDRH** (Center for Devices and Radiological Health), **CFSAN** (Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition), **CVM** (Center for Veterinary Medicine), **ORA** (Office of Regulatory Affairs). Run the actor with `{"search": "Center for"}` to list them all. #### What do ANDA, NDA, BLA and IND mean? **ANDA** — Abbreviated New Drug Application (generic drugs). **NDA** — New Drug Application. **BLA** — Biologics License Application. **IND** — Investigational New Drug application. Look them up together with `{"acronyms": ["ANDA", "NDA", "BLA", "IND"]}`. #### Where does the data come from, and how often is it updated? Every entry comes from FDA's own CDER Acronyms & Abbreviations database, downloaded as the official spreadsheet, cleaned (whitespace, duplicates) and bundled with the actor. The `dataVersion` field on every row tells you the snapshot date. The bundled copy is refreshed with new actor builds; if you spot a missing or outdated entry, open an issue on the Issues tab. #### Can I get the FDA acronyms list as a PDF? The actor exports JSON, CSV, Excel, XML and HTML. Export to Excel or HTML and print to PDF if you need a printable list. #### Does the actor scrape fda.gov? No. It never contacts fda.gov during a run, so it cannot be rate-limited or blocked and it never puts load on a government website. That is also why results are instant. #### Is the data free to reuse? Yes. It is published by a U.S. federal agency and listed on data.gov under an open license. Please credit FDA as the source. ### More data tools by damilo Regulatory, market-intelligence and research teams usually need more than definitions. These actors by the same author are pay-per-result, with a free trial on Apify's free plan: **Search & SEO monitoring** - [Google Search Results Scraper](https://apify.com/damilo/google-search-apify) — SERP data (title, URL, snippet, position, date) for any keyword, country and language; track guidance documents, competitors or news mentions. - [Google Autocomplete Scraper](https://apify.com/damilo/google-autocomplete-apify) — what people actually type into Google; keyword research for medical and regulatory content. **E-commerce & price monitoring** - [Google Shopping Scraper](https://apify.com/damilo/google-shopping-apify) — product listings, prices, sellers and ratings from Google Shopping. - [Amazon Search Scraper](https://apify.com/damilo/amazon-search-scraper) — Amazon search results with ASIN, price, rating, reviews and deal flags across 16 marketplaces. - [eBay Search Scraper](https://apify.com/damilo/ebay-search-apify) — eBay listings with price, condition, shipping and seller data from 17 eBay sites. **Local businesses & lead generation** - [Google Maps Scraper](https://apify.com/damilo/google-maps-scraper) — business listings (pharmacies, clinics, labs, any category) with phone, address, website, rating and opening hours. **Research & sourcing** - [Google Images Scraper](https://apify.com/damilo/google-images-scraper) — image search results with full-size URLs, sources and dimensions. - [Y Combinator Scraper](https://apify.com/damilo/y-combinator-scraper-apify) — YC startups with founders, batch, team size and open jobs; great for biotech and health-tech scouting. ### Support Questions, missing acronyms or feature requests (for example another FDA center's glossary)? Use the **Issues** tab on this page — it's answered quickly. If the actor saved you time, a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review helps other people find it. # Actor input Schema ## `acronyms` (type: `array`): One or more FDA acronyms or abbreviations, e.g. ANDA, NDA, CDER, 510(k). Matching is case-insensitive and ignores punctuation and spaces. Leave empty to search by text or to export the whole database. ## `search` (type: `string`): Return every entry whose acronym or definition contains this text (case-insensitive), e.g. "biologic", "inspection" or "labeling". ## `includeNotFound` (type: `boolean`): When looking up acronyms, also output a row with found = false for each acronym that is not in the FDA database, so the results stay aligned with your input list. ## `limit` (type: `integer`): Stop after this many rows. Leave empty (or 0) for no limit. ## Actor input object example ```json { "acronyms": [ "ANDA", "BLA", "CDER", "GRAS", "PDUFA" ], "includeNotFound": true } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `acronyms` (type: `string`): One row per matched acronym (or per not-found acronym with found = false): acronym, definition, found, matchedBy, query, sourceUrl, dataVersion. ## `fullCsv` (type: `string`): The entire FDA/CDER acronyms database as a CSV file with the columns acronym and definition. # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "acronyms": [ "ANDA", "BLA", "CDER", "GRAS", "PDUFA" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("damilo/fda-acronyms-abbreviations").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "acronyms": [ "ANDA", "BLA", "CDER", "GRAS", "PDUFA", ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("damilo/fda-acronyms-abbreviations").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}") for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "acronyms": [ "ANDA", "BLA", "CDER", "GRAS", "PDUFA" ] }' | apify call damilo/fda-acronyms-abbreviations --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,damilo/fda-acronyms-abbreviations" } } } ``` The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer ` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations). ## OpenAPI specification Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/hXA5hWvgPvavPffvP/builds/IvW5WUOPzAK1PkOhI/openapi.json