# FDA Orange Book Scraper (`parseforge/fda-orange-book-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes FDA Orange Book drug product records by openFDA search expression. Returns each product as a flat row with application number, patent, exclusivity, and marketing status.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/fda-orange-book-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $19.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### FDA Orange Book Scraper

**Scrape FDA Orange Book drug product data by name, ingredient, or sponsor, up to a million records per run.** Every row includes patent and exclusivity details, application numbers, and marketing status. No API key or login. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The FDA Orange Book is the authoritative list of approved drug products with therapeutic equivalence evaluations, but its web interface is clunky and its official API requires registration and rate limits. This Actor queries the openFDA Orange Book endpoint directly, so you can pull drug products by brand name, active ingredient, or sponsor and get clean, flat rows in minutes.

| Who uses it | What they scrape FDA Orange Book for |
|---|---|
| Pharmaceutical market analysts | Track which drug products a sponsor has approved and when their patents expire |
| Generic drug manufacturers | Find reference listed drugs and their exclusivity periods to plan ANDA filings |
| Healthcare data engineers | Build a clean, queryable dataset of approved drugs for internal applications |
| Patent attorneys | Monitor Orange Book patent listings for litigation and licensing opportunities |
| Academic researchers | Study drug approval trends and therapeutic equivalence across categories |

### What it does

This Actor collects FDA Orange Book drug product records by openFDA search expression and returns each product as a flat row with application number, patent, exclusivity, and marketing status.

- 🔍 **openFDA search expressions:** filter by sponsor\_name, products.brand\_name, active\_ingredients.name, and more
- 📊 **Flat row output:** each drug product becomes one row with application number, patent, exclusivity, and marketing status
- ⚡ **Up to 1,000,000 records per run:** pull the entire Orange Book or a focused subset
- 📁 **Multiple export formats:** CSV, JSON, Excel, and XML for downstream analysis

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with FDA Orange Book data

**📈 Track patent expirations.**

A generic manufacturer runs a search for a specific active ingredient, collects all Orange Book records, and identifies which patents expire soon to plan their ANDA submission.

**🔎 Monitor competitor pipelines.**

A market analyst scrapes all products for a sponsor like Pfizer, then filters by marketing status to see which drugs are approved, discontinued, or pending.

**🧪 Build a drug reference database.**

A healthcare data engineer runs the Actor with no search filter and maxItems set to 1,000,000 to create a complete, queryable dataset of all FDA-approved drugs.

**⚖️ Support patent litigation.**

A patent attorney searches for a brand name, extracts the patent and exclusivity details, and uses the data to assess infringement or licensing opportunities.

### Why choose this scraper

| | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No API key or registration** | Queries the public openFDA endpoint directly, so you start scraping in seconds |
| **Patent and exclusivity data** | Every record includes patent numbers, expiry dates, and exclusivity codes |
| **Flexible search** | Filter by sponsor, brand name, active ingredient, application number, and more |
| **Scalable** | Collect up to a million records per run for full market coverage |

### How it compares

No other Store actor targets FDA Orange Book the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

| | FDA Orange Book Scraper | Build it in-house | By hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Run it now, zero config | Days of engineering | None, but hours per pull |
| When FDA Orange Book changes | Maintained for you | You fix it | You re-learn the page |
| Proxies, retries, anti-bot | Built in | Your problem | Browser only |
| Output | Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export | Whatever you build | Copy-paste |
| Cost | Pay per result | Engineering time | Analyst hours |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor with an optional openFDA search expression (e.g. sponsor\_name:PFIZER or products.brand\_name:LIPITOR) and set a maximum number of drug products to collect per run. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
 "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
 "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.021 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $2.10 |
| 1,000 results | $21.00 |
| 10,000 results | $210.00 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [FDA Orange Book Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/fda-orange-book-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to FDA Orange Book through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/fda-orange-book-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check your search expression for typos or invalid field names. Use the openFDA query syntax exactly, e.g. sponsor\_name:PFIZER. If the search is correct, the dataset may be empty for that query; try a broader search or leave the field empty to collect all records.

**Why did the run stop before reaching maxItems?**

The Actor stops when it has collected maxItems records or when there are no more records matching your search. If you expected more results, verify your search expression and consider increasing maxItems.

**Why is the run taking a long time?**

Large maxItems values or broad searches can take longer because the Actor must paginate through many records. Reduce maxItems or narrow your search to speed up the run.

**Why are some fields empty in the output?**

Not all Orange Book records have patent or exclusivity data. Empty fields mean the FDA did not provide that information for the specific drug product.

**Why did I get an error about the search expression?**

The openFDA endpoint may reject malformed search expressions. Ensure you use correct field names and operators. Refer to the openFDA documentation for valid syntax.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is the FDA Orange Book? | The Orange Book is the FDA's official list of approved drug products with therapeutic equivalence evaluations. It includes patent and exclusivity information for each product. |
| Do I need an API key to use this Actor? | No. The Actor queries the public openFDA Orange Book endpoint, which does not require registration or an API key. |
| What search expressions can I use? | You can use any valid openFDA search expression, such as sponsor\_name:PFIZER, products.brand\_name:LIPITOR, or active\_ingredients.name:atorvastatin. The search field is optional; leave it empty to collect all records. |
| How many records can I collect per run? | You can set maxItems from 1 to 1,000,000. The default is 10. The Actor will stop after collecting that many drug products. |
| What data does each record include? | Each record includes application number, sponsor name, product details (brand name, active ingredients, dosage form, route), marketing status, and patent and exclusivity information. |
| Can I export the data to Excel? | Yes. The Actor supports CSV, JSON, Excel, and XML export formats. |
| Is the data up to date? | The Actor pulls directly from the openFDA Orange Book endpoint, which is updated regularly by the FDA. The data reflects the latest published Orange Book. |
| Can I filter by marketing status? | Yes, you can include marketing\_status in your search expression, for example marketing\_status:Prescription or marketing\_status:Discontinued. |
| What is the difference between this Actor and the FDA's official API? | The official FDA API requires registration and has rate limits. This Actor uses the openFDA endpoint, which is public and does not require a key, and handles pagination automatically. |
| Can I schedule this Actor to run automatically? | Yes, you can schedule runs on Apify to collect Orange Book data at regular intervals, such as daily or weekly. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

How many drug products to collect per run.

## `search` (type: `string`):

Optional openFDA search expression (e.g. sponsor\_name:PFIZER, products.brand\_name:LIPITOR).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "search": ""
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/fda-orange-book-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "maxItems": 10 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/fda-orange-book-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/fda-orange-book-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/fda-orange-book-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/bDTIRkSRQ3HVb1j0C/builds/3vjx6KX5r1IGxkJ4F/openapi.json