# FDA Drug Applications Search — Fast Drugs@FDA API (`quartz_apple_dnx/fda-drug-applications-search-api`) Actor

Search public Drugs@FDA application records through openFDA by sponsor, application number, brand/generic name, or active ingredient. One row per FDA application with products and submission history.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/quartz_apple_dnx/fda-drug-applications-search-api.md
- **Developed by:** [Piven Core](https://apify.com/quartz_apple_dnx) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$0.25 / 1,000 fda applications

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## 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

## FDA Drug Applications Search — Fast Drugs@FDA API

Search FDA drug-application records through the public openFDA Drugs@FDA endpoint and export structured application rows.

Use it for **drug-application research, sponsor research, regulatory-data discovery, product research, approval-history datasets, and automated FDA-data workflows**.

### Common use cases

- Search drug applications by sponsor or application number
- Find applications associated with brand or generic names
- Research applications by active ingredient
- Collect product and submission metadata for regulatory research
- Feed FDA application identifiers into downstream review workflows

### What you get

The stable unit is the FDA `application_number`. Each saved row preserves the source application's product and submission arrays and derives compact summary fields such as sponsor, application type, brand/generic names, active ingredients, product/submission counts and latest approved submission date.

### Source

`https://api.fda.gov/drug/drugsfda.json`

openFDA documents that an API key is not required for normal public use. The Drugs@FDA endpoint currently allows up to 99 application records per request.

### Input

Search by sponsor, application number, brand name, generic name, or active ingredient. The Store default leaves filters blank and browses 25 applications.

### Important limitations

V1 does **not** fetch label PDFs, Orange Book records, external websites, sponsor enrichment, or other FDA datasets.

These are regulatory application records. This Actor does not determine whether a drug is safe, effective, currently marketed, appropriate for a patient, or medically recommended. Application/submission metadata should be interpreted in its FDA source context.

openFDA may report a legitimate no-match query as HTTP 404 with “No matches found”. Only that exact condition is treated as an empty successful search; other HTTP/API failures remain failures.

### Pricing

Only successfully saved application rows are billed. Empty/budget summary rows are not billed.

Private candidate target: **$0.25 per 1,000 applications**, subject to live economics and final market recheck.

Public release is a separate decision.

### About Piven Core

Built and maintained by **Piven Core** — focused data APIs and automation utilities for reliable, production-ready workflows.

Learn more: https://pivencore.com

# Actor input Schema

## `sponsorName` (type: `string`):

Optional sponsor/company search. Leave all search fields blank to browse applications.

## `applicationNumber` (type: `string`):

Optional NDA/ANDA/BLA application number.

## `brandName` (type: `string`):

Optional brand/trade name search.

## `genericName` (type: `string`):

Optional openFDA generic-name search.

## `activeIngredient` (type: `string`):

Optional active-ingredient search.

## `maxRows` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap on saved billable FDA application rows.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxRows": 25
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxRows": 25
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("quartz_apple_dnx/fda-drug-applications-search-api").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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "maxRows": 25 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("quartz_apple_dnx/fda-drug-applications-search-api").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 '{
  "maxRows": 25
}' |
apify call quartz_apple_dnx/fda-drug-applications-search-api --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,quartz_apple_dnx/fda-drug-applications-search-api"
        }
    }
}
```

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 <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` 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/BVfUf3X0dnLdeSH7Z/builds/CnHXGJgMNaqcO4htS/openapi.json