Because the authorisation alone tells me nothing about whether I can get it. It is authorised, it is not traded.
Managing director, parallel importer
Authorisation registers are freely accessible and answer the wrong question. They say what is authorised, not what is on the market. That gap is where procurement loses most of its time.
Where do I get it, without having to write to 20 wholesalers, of whom 19 either do not answer or send a list of 1000 preparations and tell you to take your pick.
Managing director, parallel importer
The search for a source runs on personal contacts and email. It is not documented, not repeatable, and it starts from scratch with every new product.
But who is going to report it when I am unavailable for two weeks? Nobody.
Managing director, parallel importer
Reported supply shortages show the long disruption, not the short one. Anyone planning an import needs the opposite view anyway: not where something is missing, but where it exists.
The same preparation often carries different names in two countries. What holds up is substance, quantity, dosage form and pack size.
Whether a corresponding preparation exists and what it is called there can be answered directly for a large share of cases, instead of being passed to partners.
Every result carries the German PZN of the reference article, so the research can be traced back to your own article list instead of being handled case by case.
Parallel import, reimport and named patient supply under § 73 (3) AMG are three different processes with three different data questions. Keeping them apart is what makes the right search start.
Anyone sourcing a medicine abroad is rarely looking for the product and almost always for the match. Which article in the target country corresponds to the German one, and how do you establish that reliably? This page sets out which fields a match needs, how it is built, how far the coverage reaches and where the data stops being conclusive.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is included | drug and product data from 50+ countries, linked to the German article master |
| Matched on | substance, strength, dosage form and pack size, not on the trade name |
| Prices | price data is DACH-focused. For other countries there is product data, not comprehensive prices |
| Delivery | interface, export or API |
| Update cadence | daily for the article master, bi-weekly for price updates |
The same preparation often carries different names in two countries, and the same name occasionally stands for different compositions. Matching on the name produces hits that are not hits and misses ones that would have been.
What holds up is the combination of substance, strength, dosage form and pack size. The ATC code narrows the field but does not replace the check: it describes the therapeutic group, not the interchangeability of a specific pack.
| Field | What it is for | What happens without it |
|---|---|---|
| Substance and quantity | the actual equivalence check | strengths cannot be compared, 500 mg and 2 × 250 mg blur |
| Dosage form | separates modified release, gastro-resistant, solution from tablet | formally identical substances, therapeutically different products |
| Pack size and unit | quantity and unit price comparison | prices per pack get compared instead of prices per unit |
| Marketing authorisation holder | origin and responsibility | parallel distribution and originator are indistinguishable |
| Authorisation number | unambiguous reference in the target country | the evidence for the file is missing |
| German PZN of the reference article | linking back into your own system | the result cannot be traced back to your own article list |
Three terms that get mixed up in daily work and describe three different processes.
| What it is | The data question behind it | |
|---|---|---|
| Parallel import | a medicine placed on the market abroad is brought into Germany and distributed here | Which foreign article corresponds to the German one? |
| Reimport | a medicine originally manufactured in Germany returns after export | the same matching question, plus the origin |
| Named patient supply under § 73 (3) AMG | sourcing a medicine not authorised in Germany for a specific need | Does the preparation exist anywhere at all, and under which name? |
The first two are trade processes with an existing German counterpart. The third is procurement without one. The routes, the evidence and the documentation are covered in unlicensed medicines in Germany.
Product data from 50+ countries. That answers the question of whether a corresponding preparation exists and what it is called there for a large share of cases.
Price data is DACH-focused. This is the most important limitation on this page, and it belongs here rather than in the small print. A cross-border price comparison is not a query, it is a project: prices sit at different trade levels, in different currencies, with different VAT rates and rebate logics. Laid side by side without normalisation, they do not compare.
No statement on obtainability. That an article is authorised and listed in the target country does not mean it is available or that anyone will ship it.
No legal assessment. Whether a specific import is permissible, whether a licence is in place and how labelling has to be handled is decided by your regulatory and legal function, not by the record.
No substitution recommendation. The data shows which articles correspond in substance, strength and form. Whether a substitution is permitted in a specific case is a clinical and regulatory decision.
Portal access starts at 135 EUR per month, net plus VAT. If you want to check how many of your articles have a reliable counterpart in the target country, bring a PZN list: book a demo.
Further reading: which data classes are available overall.
This content is intended for healthcare professionals and does not constitute medical or legal advice. Last reviewed: September 2026.
More clarity, faster research, and faster decision-making.
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