What are the differences between the WHO Drug formats (A, B1, B2 and C)?
Format A is the old format produced by the UMC from 1992 to mid-2002. It is no longer supported. The B formats replaced the A format. Both B formats are distributed using the same file structure. The difference between the B formats is in the content. In the B1 format, the Drug Name will not be unique. They will be repeated for entries with different companies and/or countries. In the B2 format, the Drug Name will be unique. If there are multiple entries in B1 with the same Drug Name, the first entry will be included in the B2 format. Format C is the newest format and has a more complicated file structure than the B formats. The most significant difference in content is the addition of information about dosage form and strength. Like the B1 format, there can be multiple entries with the same Drug Name. Format C was supposed to replace the two B formats, with the B formats discontinued as of the end of 2005. However, due to the complexities inherent with Format C and the difficulties in
