RxNorm Drug Normalizer (Name to RxCUI, Class, NDC)

Here is one real result, with every field the actor returns:

{
  "inputTerm": "Lipitor",
  "rxcui": "153165",
  "name": "Lipitor",
  "tty": "BN",
  "synonym": null,
  "isBranded": true,
  "ingredients": ["atorvastatin"],
  "ingredientCount": 1,
  "multiIngredients": [],
  "preciseIngredients": ["atorvastatin calcium trihydrate", "atorvastatin calcium"],
  "brandNames": ["Lipitor"],
  "genericForms": [
    "atorvastatin 80 MG Oral Tablet",
    "atorvastatin 20 MG Oral Tablet",
    "atorvastatin 40 MG Oral Tablet",
    "atorvastatin 10 MG Oral Tablet"
  ],
  "genericFormCount": 4,
  "brandedForms": [
    "atorvastatin 80 MG Oral Tablet [Lipitor]",
    "atorvastatin 10 MG Oral Tablet [Lipitor]",
    "atorvastatin 20 MG Oral Tablet [Lipitor]",
    "atorvastatin 40 MG Oral Tablet [Lipitor]"
  ],
  "brandedFormCount": 4,
  "doseForms": ["Oral Tablet", "Oral Product", "Pill"],
  "strengths": ["80 MG", "20 MG", "40 MG", "10 MG"],
  "ndcs": ["00071015823", "58151015877", "58864083430", "63629336601", "00071015523"],
  "ndcCount": 30,
  "drugClasses": [
    { "className": "Atorvastatin", "classType": "CHEM", "classId": "D000069059" },
    { "className": "Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors", "classType": "MOA", "classId": "N0000000121" },
    { "className": "Decreased Cholesterol Synthesis", "classType": "PE", "classId": "N0000008555" },
    { "className": "HMG CoA reductase inhibitors", "classType": "ATC1-4", "classId": "C10AA" },
    { "className": "HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitor", "classType": "EPC", "classId": "N0000175589" }
  ],
  "atcClass": "HMG CoA reductase inhibitors",
  "atcClassId": "C10AA",
  "aiWhatItIs": null,
  "aiDrugClassPlain": null,
  "aiCommonUses": null,
  "aiNotes": null,
  "rxNavUrl": "https://mor.nlm.nih.gov/RxNav/search?searchBy=RXCUI&searchTerm=153165",
  "source": "RxNorm / RxNav (U.S. National Library of Medicine)",
  "observedAt": "2026-08-20T17:27:04.915Z",
  "error": null
}

The most complete drug name normalizer available. It maps any drug, brand, or ingredient name to its standardized RxNorm concept and returns every related concept RxNorm exposes (active ingredients, brand names, clinical and branded drug forms, dose forms, and strengths), plus optional National Drug Codes and full drug classification (ATC, EPC, mechanism of action, physiologic effect, and therapeutic class).

Input · Output · Pricing · Examples

Table of contents

• What it does
• Quickstart
• Input reference
• Output reference
• Example output record
• Run via API and CLI
• Fetch results
• Billing and limits
• FAQ and troubleshooting
• More scrapers at scrapers.lat

What it does

Give it any messy drug name, brand name, or RxNorm concept ID and it returns a clean, standardized concept you can join on. For each input it resolves the RxNorm concept unique identifier (RxCUI) with exact then approximate matching, then groups every related concept by type:

• Active ingredients and precise ingredients (salt and hydrate forms)
• Brand names
• Clinical drug forms (generic, such as "atorvastatin 10 MG Oral Tablet")
• Branded drug forms (such as "atorvastatin 10 MG Oral Tablet [Lipitor]")
• Dose forms (tablet, capsule, oral solution, injection, and more)
• Strengths parsed from the drug forms
• A branded flag so you can split generic from brand concepts

Two opt-in add-ons enrich each concept further: National Drug Codes (NDC) drawn from the packaged drug products, and full drug classification (ATC, established pharmacologic class, mechanism of action, physiologic effect, chemical structure, and therapeutic class). A plain-language AI summary is also available.

You can drive it by drug name, by RxCUI, or both in one run. One record is returned per input.

Quickstart

Paste this input to normalize three common drugs with NDC codes and drug classes:

{
  "drugNames": ["metformin", "Lipitor", "ibuprofen"],
  "includeNdcAndClass": true,
  "maxResults": 10
}

Input reference

Name	Type	Required	Description	Example
drugNames	array of strings	one of drugNames or rxcuis	Drug, brand, or ingredient names to normalize. Each is resolved to its RxNorm concept.	["metformin", "Lipitor"]
rxcuis	array of strings	one of drugNames or rxcuis	Exact RxNorm concept identifiers (RxCUI) to look up directly.	["6809", "153165"]
includeNdcAndClass	boolean	no	Add-on. Also fetch NDC codes and drug classes for each concept. Off by default, paid plans only.	true
includeAiSummary	boolean	no	Add-on. Add an AI plain-language read of each drug (educational, not medical advice). Off by default, paid plans only.	true
maxResults	integer	no	Maximum concepts to return in one run. Free plans are capped at 10.	10

Output reference

Name	Type	Description
inputTerm	string	The drug name or RxCUI you supplied
rxcui	string	RxNorm concept unique identifier
name	string	Standardized RxNorm concept name
tty	string	RxNorm term type (IN, BN, SCD, SBD, and so on)
synonym	string	Concept synonym, if any
isBranded	boolean	Whether the concept is a brand-level concept
ingredients	array	Active ingredient names
ingredientCount	integer	Number of active ingredients
multiIngredients	array	Multi-ingredient combinations the concept appears in
preciseIngredients	array	Precise ingredient names (salts and hydrates)
brandNames	array	Brand names for this concept
genericForms	array	Clinical drug forms (SCD)
genericFormCount	integer	Number of clinical drug forms
brandedForms	array	Branded drug forms (SBD)
brandedFormCount	integer	Number of branded drug forms
doseForms	array	Dose forms (tablet, capsule, and so on)
strengths	array	Strengths parsed from the drug forms
ndcs	array	National Drug Codes (NDC add-on)
ndcCount	integer	Number of NDC codes returned (NDC add-on)
drugClasses	array	Drug classes with className, classType, classId (class add-on)
atcClass	string	Primary ATC class name (class add-on)
atcClassId	string	Primary ATC class code (class add-on)
aiWhatItIs	string	AI plain-language description (AI add-on)
aiDrugClassPlain	string	AI drug class in everyday words (AI add-on)
aiCommonUses	string	AI common uses (AI add-on)
aiNotes	string	AI neutral note (AI add-on)
rxNavUrl	string	RxNav concept page URL
source	string	Data source
observedAt	string	When this record was captured
error	string	Error message, if any

Example output record

{
  "inputTerm": "metformin",
  "rxcui": "6809",
  "name": "metformin",
  "tty": "IN",
  "isBranded": false,
  "ingredients": ["metformin"],
  "brandNames": ["Glucophage", "Janumet", "Kombiglyze"],
  "doseForms": ["Extended Release Oral Tablet", "Oral Solution", "Oral Tablet"],
  "strengths": ["500 MG", "1000 MG", "2.5 MG"],
  "ndcs": ["00310612560", "00310614530", "00310613530"],
  "ndcCount": 25,
  "atcClass": "Biguanides",
  "atcClassId": "A10BA",
  "drugClasses": [
    { "className": "Biguanides", "classType": "ATC1-4", "classId": "A10BA" }
  ],
  "source": "RxNorm / RxNav (U.S. National Library of Medicine)",
  "observedAt": "2026-08-20T17:27:04.915Z",
  "error": null
}

Run via API and CLI

Start a run with the Apify API:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~rxnorm-drug-normalizer-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"drugNames":["metformin","Lipitor","ibuprofen"],"includeNdcAndClass":true,"maxResults":10}'

Or with the Apify CLI:

apify call scrapers_lat/rxnorm-drug-normalizer-scraper \
  --input '{"drugNames":["metformin","Lipitor"],"includeNdcAndClass":true}'

Fetch results

Read the dataset items from a finished run:

$curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/DATASET_ID/items?token=YOUR_TOKEN&format=json"

Swap format=json for csv or xlsx to export a spreadsheet.

Billing and limits

• Pay per result. You are charged for each normalized drug concept the actor returns.
• Add-ons are opt-in and paid plans only. NDC codes and drug classes are billed per concept only when real data is returned. The AI summary is billed per concept only when a usable summary is produced.
• Never charged on failure. An unresolved or unknown drug name returns an error row and is not billed.
• Free Apify plans are capped at 10 concepts per run, with add-ons disabled.
• The actor respects your run spend limit and stops returning billable results once it is reached.

FAQ and troubleshooting

What is an RxCUI? It is the stable numeric identifier RxNorm assigns to a drug concept. It is the key you use to join drug data across systems.

Can I look up a brand and get the generic? Yes. Input a brand such as "Lipitor" and you get its ingredients (atorvastatin), clinical forms, branded forms, strengths, and classes.

Why is my drug not found? Free-text names are resolved with exact then approximate matching. Very unusual spellings or non-drug terms may not resolve and return an error row (no charge). Try the generic ingredient name or a known RxCUI.

Where do NDC codes come from? They are drawn from the packaged clinical and branded drug products related to your concept, so ingredient-level inputs still return real package codes.

Is the AI summary medical advice? No. It is a short educational, plain-language description only. It never includes dosing or clinical advice.

More scrapers at scrapers.lat

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This actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. It reads public RxNorm and RxNav data and returns it in a structured form.