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BioContextAI Knowledgebase MCP

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bc_search_drugs_fda

Search FDA-approved drug products using brand names, generic names, active ingredients, or other criteria to retrieve application details, sponsors, and product information.

Instructions

Search FDA Drugs@FDA database for approved drug products. Supports multiple search criteria.

Returns: dict: Results array with drug products including application numbers, sponsors, products array or error message.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
brand_nameNoBrand or trade name (e.g., 'Tylenol')
generic_nameNoGeneric name (e.g., 'acetaminophen')
active_ingredientNoActive ingredient name
sponsor_nameNoCompany/sponsor name
application_numberNoFDA application number (NDA, ANDA, or BLA)
marketing_statusNoMarketing status: 'Prescription', 'Over-the-counter', 'Discontinued', or 'None (Tentative Approval)'
dosage_formNoDosage form (e.g., 'TABLET', 'INJECTION', 'CAPSULE')
routeNoRoute of administration (e.g., 'ORAL', 'INJECTION', 'TOPICAL')
search_typeNo'and' for all terms must match, 'or' for any term matchesor
sort_byNoField to sort by (e.g., 'sponsor_name', 'application_number')
limitNoNumber of results to return
skipNoNumber of results to skip for pagination

Implementation Reference

  • The core handler function for the 'search_drugs_fda' tool (prefixed to 'bc_search_drugs_fda' upon server import), decorated with @core_mcp.tool(). Includes input schema via Annotated Fields and full execution logic querying the FDA Drugs@FDA API.
    @core_mcp.tool()
    def search_drugs_fda(
        brand_name: Annotated[Optional[str], Field(description="Brand or trade name (e.g., 'Tylenol')")] = None,
        generic_name: Annotated[Optional[str], Field(description="Generic name (e.g., 'acetaminophen')")] = None,
        active_ingredient: Annotated[Optional[str], Field(description="Active ingredient name")] = None,
        sponsor_name: Annotated[Optional[str], Field(description="Company/sponsor name")] = None,
        application_number: Annotated[
            Optional[str], Field(description="FDA application number (NDA, ANDA, or BLA)")
        ] = None,
        marketing_status: Annotated[
            Optional[str],
            Field(
                description="Marketing status: 'Prescription', 'Over-the-counter', 'Discontinued', or 'None (Tentative Approval)'"
            ),
        ] = None,
        dosage_form: Annotated[
            Optional[str], Field(description="Dosage form (e.g., 'TABLET', 'INJECTION', 'CAPSULE')")
        ] = None,
        route: Annotated[
            Optional[str], Field(description="Route of administration (e.g., 'ORAL', 'INJECTION', 'TOPICAL')")
        ] = None,
        search_type: Annotated[str, Field(description="'and' for all terms must match, 'or' for any term matches")] = "or",
        sort_by: Annotated[
            Optional[str], Field(description="Field to sort by (e.g., 'sponsor_name', 'application_number')")
        ] = None,
        limit: Annotated[int, Field(description="Number of results to return", ge=1, le=1000)] = 25,
        skip: Annotated[int, Field(description="Number of results to skip for pagination", ge=0, le=25000)] = 0,
    ) -> dict:
        """Search FDA Drugs@FDA database for approved drug products. Supports multiple search criteria.
    
        Returns:
            dict: Results array with drug products including application numbers, sponsors, products array or error message.
        """
        # Ensure at least one search parameter is provided
        search_params = [
            brand_name,
            generic_name,
            active_ingredient,
            sponsor_name,
            application_number,
            marketing_status,
            dosage_form,
            route,
        ]
        if not any(search_params):
            return {"error": "At least one search parameter must be provided"}
    
        # Build query components - using correct schema field paths
        query_parts = []
    
        if brand_name:
            # Search in both openfda.brand_name and products.brand_name arrays
            query_parts.append(f"(openfda.brand_name:{brand_name} OR products.brand_name:{brand_name})")
    
        if generic_name:
            # openfda.generic_name is an array
            query_parts.append(f"openfda.generic_name:{generic_name}")
    
        if active_ingredient:
            # products.active_ingredients.name
            query_parts.append(f"products.active_ingredients.name:{active_ingredient}")
    
        if sponsor_name:
            query_parts.append(f"sponsor_name:{sponsor_name}")
    
        if application_number:
            query_parts.append(f"application_number.exact:{application_number}")
    
        if marketing_status:
            # Map user-friendly terms to API values - products.marketing_status
            status_mapping = {
                "prescription": "1",
                "discontinued": "2",
                "none (tentative approval)": "3",
                "over-the-counter": "4",
            }
            status_value = status_mapping.get(marketing_status.lower(), marketing_status)
            query_parts.append(f"products.marketing_status:{status_value}")
    
        if dosage_form:
            query_parts.append(f"products.dosage_form:{dosage_form}")
    
        if route:
            query_parts.append(f"products.route:{route}")
    
        # Join query parts based on search type
        query = " AND ".join(query_parts) if search_type.lower() == "and" else " OR ".join(query_parts)
    
        # Build URL parameters for proper encoding
        params = {"search": query, "limit": limit, "skip": skip}
    
        # Add sorting if specified
        if sort_by:
            params["sort"] = f"{sort_by}:desc"
    
        # Build the complete URL
        base_url = "https://api.fda.gov/drug/drugsfda.json"
    
        try:
            response = requests.get(base_url, params=params)  # type: ignore
            response.raise_for_status()
            return response.json()
        except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
            return {"error": f"Failed to fetch FDA drug data: {e!s}"}
  • Registers the core_mcp server (containing the search_drugs_fda tool) into the main MCP app with prefix 'bc' via slugify('BC'), resulting in tool name 'bc_search_drugs_fda'.
    for mcp in [core_mcp, *(await get_openapi_mcps())]:
        await mcp_app.import_server(
            mcp,
            slugify(mcp.name),
        )
    logger.info("MCP server setup complete.")
  • Defines the core_mcp FastMCP server instance named 'BC' where tools like search_drugs_fda are registered via decorators.
    core_mcp = FastMCP(  # type: ignore
        "BC",
        instructions="Provides access to biomedical knowledge bases.",
    )
  • Imports all tools from openfda module into core namespace, ensuring search_drugs_fda is available for registration in core_mcp.
    from .openfda import *
    from .opentargets import *
  • Exports the search_drugs_fda tool function (with its inline schema) for import into core module.
    from ._search_drugs import search_drugs_fda
    
    __all__ = [
        "count_drugs_by_field",
        "get_available_pharmacologic_classes",
        "get_drug_by_application_number",
        "get_drug_label_info",
        "get_drug_statistics",
        "get_generic_equivalents",
        "search_drugs_by_therapeutic_class",
        "search_drugs_fda",
    ]

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