Docs / API reference

Search medicines

GET/v1/drugs

Searches every record of every source in one country by name, active ingredient or identifier. Names match anywhere in the text; identifiers such as AIC, CN, NDC or DIN codes match from their first character. Matching ignores accents and case. Results rank exact matches first, then prefix matches, then other matches, each by record name.

Parameters

country string Required: Two-letter ISO 3166-1 country code, lowercase. Every search is scoped to one country.
q string Required: The text to search for: a name, an active ingredient or an identifier. 3 to 120 characters, matched literally.
limit integer: Number of results to return, from 1 to 50. Defaults to 20.
offset integer: Number of results to skip, from 0 to 10000. Use the nextOffset of the previous page.
kinds string: Keep only these record kinds, as comma-separated sourceId:kind pairs of the requested country, at most 12. Applied before pagination.
useDomain enum: Keep only records whose source classifies them for this use. human and veterinary also include products the source marks for both. Applied before pagination.
Possible values: human veterinary both unknown not-applicable
species string: Keep only records with this reviewed target species, such as dog, cat, horse or cattle. Records with unknown or unmapped species are excluded. Applied before pagination.

Returns

country string: The country searched.
results Record[]: The matching records, best matches first.
nextOffset integer | null: The offset of the next page, or null on the last page.

Errors

400 401 403 429 503 · Errors and rate limits

GET /v1/drugs

curl -G https://api.medifontis.com/v1/drugs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MEDIFONTIS_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "country=au" \
  --data-urlencode "q=paracetamol"

const params = new URLSearchParams({ country: 'au', q: 'paracetamol' })
const response = await fetch(`https://api.medifontis.com/v1/drugs?${params}`, {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.MEDIFONTIS_API_KEY}` },
})
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Medifontis ${response.status}`)
const { results, nextOffset } = await response.json()

import os

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.medifontis.com/v1/drugs",
    params={"country": "au", "q": "paracetamol"},
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['MEDIFONTIS_API_KEY']}"},
    timeout=10,
)
response.raise_for_status()
results = response.json()["results"]

Response

{
  "country": "au",
  "results": [
    {
      "country": "au",
      "sourceId": "au.pbs.items",
      "id": "au:pbs:items:10598T_12218_485_2863_43597",
      "kind": "packages",
      "name": "APOHEALTH Osteo Relief Paracetamol 665 mg — paracetamol 665 mg modified release tablet, 96",
      "data": {
        "form": "Tablet 665 mg (modified release)",
        "name": "APOHEALTH Osteo Relief Paracetamol 665 mg — paracetamol 665 mg modified release tablet, 96",
        "brand": "APOHEALTH Osteo Relief Paracetamol 665 mg",
        "route": "Oral",
        "pbsCode": "10598T",
        "liItemId": "10598T_12218_485_2863_43597",
        "marketed": null,
        "packSize": 96,
        "supplier": "Apotex Pty Ltd",
        "useDomain": "unknown",
        "supplyOnly": false,
        "genericName": "Paracetamol",
        "programCode": "R1",
        "presentation": "paracetamol 665 mg modified release tablet, 96",
        "scheduleCode": "4751",
        "sourceStatus": null,
        "supplyRegime": null,
        "firstListedOn": "2025-08-01",
        "legalDrugName": "Paracetamol",
        "listingStatus": "PBS-listed",
        "targetSpecies": [],
        "nonEffectiveOn": null,
        "organisationId": "72",
        "supplyOnlyFrom": null,
        "benefitTypeCode": "R",
        "supplyOnlyUntil": null,
        "copyrightNotices": [
          "Copyright (c) 2024 Department of Health, Commonwealth of Australia",
          "Permission is granted to use and redistribute this content, as long as all copyright statements are retained. Permission is not granted to modify this content.",
          "For further copyright information of this content, please refer to: https://www.health.gov.au/using-our-websites/copyright"
        ],
        "manufacturerCode": "TX",
        "scheduleRevision": 3,
        "useDomainEvidence": {
          "basis": "unreviewed",
          "field": null,
          "value": null,
          "version": 1,
          "sourceId": "au.pbs.items"
        },
        "patientEligibility": "not-assessed",
        "scheduleEffectiveOn": "2026-10-01",
        "targetSpeciesStatus": "not-reported",
        "administrativeStatus": "unknown",
        "prescriptionCategory": "unknown",
        "extemporaneousIngredient": false
      },
      "region": null,
      "retrievedAt": "2026-10-20T17:02:19.073Z",
      "sourceUrl": "https://data-api.health.gov.au/pbs/api/v3/schedules?limit=100000&page=1",
      "licence": {
        "id": "LicenseRef-PBS-Public-API",
        "url": "https://data-api-portal.health.gov.au/apis",
        "scope": "PBS API schedule, item and organisation metadata; all publisher copyright statements retained on each record.",
        "termsUrl": "https://www.health.gov.au/using-our-websites/copyright",
        "reviewedAt": "2026-09-30",
        "attribution": "Source: Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), Department of Health, Commonwealth of Australia. Copyright (c) 2024 Department of Health, Commonwealth of Australia.",
        "documentsIncluded": false
      },
      "limitations": [
        "Complete current PBS schedule, not a universal list of Australian medicines: private/non-subsidised and unlisted ARTG medicines are absent; PBS benefits may also include non-medicine supplies.",
        "PBS item codes identify prescribing rules and can be shared by brands or packs; li_item_id is the publisher’s unique listing (item and PharmCIS product/pack IDs), retained verbatim.",
        "The API has no ARTG registration, Poisons Standard schedule, legal Rx/OTC field or authorisation state: classification and administrative status remain unknown. Benefit codes U/R/A/S are reimbursement restrictions, not legal supply regimes.",
        "Supply-only packs remain searchable but PBS expressly says they may be dispensed and not newly prescribed. Extemporaneous ingredient rows are distinct from ready-prepared packs. Neither kind enters Doctofam’s prescription search.",
        "No PBS patient, prescriber or reimbursement eligibility is assessed. Restriction text, ATC/AMT mappings and document contents are not collected; publisher price fields remain in raw and are not used for prescribing.",
        "The API permits use and redistribution with copyright statements retained but prohibits modification. The referenced Health website notice also restricts commercial use and reformatting. Rights for Medifontis’s derived schema/commercial redistribution require an owner decision or written permission; this is not an open licence.",
        "Direct official HTTPS only; no proxy. The public subscription key is publisher-issued, shared by unregistered users and rate-limited to one request every twenty seconds. Rotation fails closed."
      ],
      "names": [
        "APOHEALTH Osteo Relief Paracetamol 665 mg — paracetamol 665 mg modified release tablet, 96",
        "APOHEALTH Osteo Relief Paracetamol 665 mg",
        "Paracetamol",
        "paracetamol 665 mg modified release tablet, 96"
      ],
      "identifiers": [
        {
          "value": "10598T",
          "scheme": "pbs-item"
        },
        {
          "value": "10598T_12218_485_2863_43597",
          "scheme": "pbs-li-item"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "nextOffset": 2
}