Which generic is behind a US brand name?

Try:

Example

LIPITOR

US brand name for

ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM as FDA writes it Plain name, salt word removed: atorvastatin WHO naming stem: -vastatin — WHO definition: antihyperlipidaemic substances, HMG CoA reductase inhibitors

FDA application: NDA 020702

Source: FDA Drugs@FDA data (openFDA bulk file), checked 2026-09-23

Reading a result

The generic as FDA writes it is the active ingredient name exactly as it appears in Drugs@FDA, often with a salt: ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM, SERTRALINE HYDROCHLORIDE, AMLODIPINE BESYLATE. The plain name drops the salt word (atorvastatin, sertraline, amlodipine), which is the name people usually say.
The WHO naming stem is read from the plain name by the same decoder as the front page: atorvastatin ends in -vastatin, sertraline in -traline. Many older US names have no stem (acetaminophen, warfarin); US spellings that differ from the international name are shown with WHO's spelling.
A combination product lists every ingredient: CADUET is AMLODIPINE BESYLATE with ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM, and each is decoded on its own line.
One brand, several entries. PRILOSEC appears twice: under NDA 019810 with OMEPRAZOLE, which FDA lists as discontinued, and under NDA 022056 with OMEPRAZOLE MAGNESIUM. The result shows both rather than picking one.
The application is FDA's own record number, linked to its page on Drugs@FDA. NDA is a new drug application, ANDA an abbreviated (generic) application and BLA a biologics licence application. Some ANDA products carry their own brand-style name, such as JANTOVEN for WARFARIN SODIUM; those are listed, while an ANDA product sold under its ingredient name is not a brand and is left out.
Discontinued in FDA listings means FDA marks every product of that name, in that application, as discontinued. It records FDA's listing status, not whether any pack is still on a shelf.
Typing a generic (atorvastatin) lists the US brand names FDA gives for it, single-ingredient brands first, then combinations: LIPITOR and ATORVALIQ, then CADUET, LIPTRUZET and LYPQOZET.

What is not here

Brands from other countries. Only US FDA names. Most over-the-counter monograph products and all supplements. Drugs@FDA lists medicines approved through an application, so many shop-shelf products sold under FDA's over-the-counter monographs, and every dietary supplement, are absent. Vaccines and blood products licensed by FDA's biologics centre are mostly not in Drugs@FDA either. Old or misspelled names may be missing. When a name is not found, the lookup says so plainly; ask a pharmacist, who can read the generic name off the pack or label. Strengths and forms are left out on purpose: the data file keeps name fields only.

Source and how the list was built

FDA publishes Drugs@FDA as a set of data files, and its openFDA project republishes the same records as one drugsfda bulk file. On 2026-09-23 the FDA data-files download refused scripted requests, so this list was built from the openFDA file of the same day (checked 2026-09-23). Both are US Government works in the public domain.

From each of the 51,788 product records a script (tools/build-brands.cjs) keeps only the drug name, the active ingredient names and the marketing status, splits combination products into one name per ingredient, and drops strength, form and route. A drug name counts as a brand only if it still differs from its own ingredient names once connecting words, numbers and packaging words are set aside, so the 37,197 records sold under their ingredient name (ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM from a generic maker) are not called brands. Also left out: 1,417 records with only a tentative approval, and 565 records (401 distinct names) whose name carries a strength or form, such as intravenous fluids named with a percentage. What remains is 7,714 rows covering 5,883 US brand names and 2,535 plain generic names. The whole list is one file, brands.json (about 470 KB), which this page loads once and searches in your browser.