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TL;DRNachfolge-PZN (successor PZN, also Ersatz-PZN or Folge-PZN) is the new Pharmazentralnummer assigned to a pack when an article-identifying characteristic changes, linked in the IFA data from the withdrawn predecessor article (Vorgängerartikel) to its successor (Nachfolgeartikel).
The term describes a relationship, not a separate kind of number. A Nachfolge-PZN is an ordinary PZN, and what makes it a successor is a reference stored in the IFA database that points from an old pack to the pack that takes its place. That reference exists because a PZN is deliberately stable: it must identify the same article for as long as it is published, so any change that alters what the article is forces a new number rather than a quiet edit of the old one.
The body that assigns the PZN and maintains this reference is the IFA (Informationsstelle für Arzneispezialitäten). Its published rules govern both halves of the question: when a change forces a new PZN, and when a predecessor may be linked to a successor. Getting these two rules right is what lets a system trace a discontinued pack forward instead of losing it.
The IFA defines the PZN as a unique key identifying one specific article, meaning one trade form with a specific Bezeichnung (designation), Packungsgröße (pack size as quantity and unit), Darreichungsform (dosage form), Information Arzneimittel and Artikeltyp of a specific supplier. Change one of these article-identifying characteristics and a new PZN is assigned. The IFA rule is explicit in both directions.
| Situation | PZN outcome |
|---|---|
| An article-identifying characteristic changes: designation, pack size, dosage form, Information Arzneimittel, article type | A new PZN is assigned; the old PZN is not edited |
| A designation change, even if composition stays the same or the article is otherwise unchanged | A new PZN is assigned |
| Non-identifying attributes change, for example the outer appearance of the pack | The PZN stays; these are not grounds for a different PZN |
| The article-identifying characteristics are unchanged | The PZN must be kept; a new one would falsely signal a changed article |
The reason is data integrity for the market. A data user must be able to rely, at any time, on a given PZN still pointing to the same article, so that ordering, billing and stock allocation stay correct. The IFA rules state the mirror obligation as well: keeping the PZN is mandatory when the identifying characteristics are unchanged, because otherwise a data user would get the false impression that an article with a new PZN is a new, changed article.
Because the Vertriebsstatus außer Vertrieb (AV) is defined as final. Per the IFA rules an article set to außer Vertrieb cannot be reactivated, it cannot be set back to im Vertrieb, and if a supplier wants to distribute the pack again, the relaunch requires a new PZN. This is exactly the point where a Nachfolge-PZN appears: the old pack stays visible as a withdrawn Vorgängerartikel, and the reactivated or replacement pack lives under a fresh number as the Nachfolgeartikel.
A withdrawn PZN also does not stay in the data forever. The IFA deletes it on a schedule after the AV notification.
Two constraints on the reference itself matter in practice. For technical reasons only one Nachfolgeartikel may be named per article, so where several successors exist the supplier must choose which one the reference points to. The other direction is open: several Vorgänger-PZN may point to the same Nachfolge-PZN, which is how two discontinued packs can converge on one replacement. For Betäubungsmittel under the BtMG the rule is stricter, a reference is allowed only to a successor identical in active ingredient, strength, dosage form and pack size.
All three involve a PZN that is not the one a professional first looked up, but they mean different things, and only the first is a genuine successor relationship.
| Case | What it is | Reference in the data |
|---|---|---|
| Nachfolge-PZN | The same product line continued under a new pack identity after an identifying characteristic changed or the pack was relaunched; the successor should be a plausible alternative, not significantly different in purpose, composition or make. | Vorgängerartikel linked to one Nachfolgeartikel in the IFA data |
| A different product | A distinct article that happens to be a therapeutic option; it is not the manufacturer's declared replacement for the withdrawn pack. | No successor reference; substitution is decided by other rules (aut idem, Rabattvertrag) |
| Reimport / Parallelimport | The same original product sourced from another EU market and repackaged; it carries its own PZN as a separate article of the importing company. | Its own PZN, not a Nachfolge-PZN of the domestic pack; see Reimport and Parallelimport |
The distinction is operational, not academic. A Nachfolge-PZN tells reordering and procurement systems which pack to buy next when the old one is gone. A merely similar product does not, and a Reimport is a parallel listing rather than a forward pointer. Treating a Reimport PZN as if it were a successor, or reading any therapeutic alternative as the manufacturer's Nachfolgeartikel, is a common source of wrong substitutions.
The Vorgänger and Nachfolger chain is what keeps a discontinued pack useful rather than a dead end. When a warehouse or ERP system meets a PZN that is außer Vertrieb, the successor reference lets it propose the pack that replaces it instead of returning an empty result, which is the difference between a stalled order and an automatic continuation. For substitution, the chain marks which alternative the manufacturer itself declared plausible, a stronger signal than surface similarity. For historical price tracking and analytics, following the chain keeps a product's record continuous across a PZN change, so a price series does not simply break on the day the number changed.
pharmazie.com aggregates the ABDA article master data (via ABDATA), so the successor and predecessor reference is carried per PZN alongside the Vertriebsstatus. The value inside the platform is the link in place: a pack set to außer Vertrieb sits next to the PZN that succeeds it, and, where the product is caught in a shortage rather than withdrawn, next to the daily Lieferengpass feed and its substitute PZNs. That lets a user follow a discontinued pack forward on one screen rather than re-searching the successor by hand.
One honest limitation: the successor reference is a supplier declaration mirrored from the article master data, and the IFA rules allow only one Nachfolgeartikel per article. Where a withdrawn pack has several plausible successors, the data shows the single one the supplier chose, not the full set of options, and where no reference was ever set the chain simply ends. pharmazie.com is an aggregator of this licensed data, not the assigning body; the authoritative reference is held by the IFA and the responsible company.
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