RxNorm provides standard names for clinical drugs (active ingredient + strength + dose form) and for dose forms as administered to a patient. It provides links from clinical drugs, both branded and generic, to their active ingredients, drug components (active ingredient + strength), and related brand names. NDCs (National Drug Codes) for specific drug products (where there are often many NDC codes for a single product) are linked to that product in RxNorm. RxNorm links its names to many of the drug vocabularies commonly used in pharmacy management and drug interaction software, including those of First Databank, Micromedex, MediSpan, Gold Standard Alchemy, and Multum. By providing links between these vocabularies, RxNorm can mediate messages between systems not using the same software and vocabulary.

RxNorm is one of a suite of designated standards for use in U.S. Federal Government systems for the electronic exchange of clinical health information.

Additional information about RxNorm is available:

RxNorm Overview
RxNorm Documentation
RxNorm project history
RxNorm IEEE Publication

Knowledge Source Server - Download RxNorm files (Note: You must enable cookies in your browser)

Developed in 2004, RxNav is a Java-based standalone application (client) that connects to the RxNorm server at NLM. It allows users to query the RxNorm database by any of its components (ingredient, clinical drug, brand name, etc) and displays all the information related to a given component on a single page.

An overview of RxNav was presented at MedInfo 2004:

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We are interested to learn how you are using RxNorm, how you think it could be improved, and any other comments or ideas. Please send your questions, suggestions, and comments to: rxnorminfo@nlm.nih.gov