Health Canada Drug Product Database MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that exposes the Health Canada Drug Product Database (DPD) APIs as tools. Query information on ~47,000 drugs approved for use in Canada including human pharmaceuticals, biologics, veterinary drugs, radiopharmaceuticals, and disinfectants.

Features

• 15 tools exposing all DPD API endpoints

• 4 resources providing reference documentation

• 4 prompts for guided workflows

• Async HTTP requests with httpx

• Support for English and French responses

• JSON and XML response formats

• Comprehensive drug product queries

Available Tools

Available Resources

Resources provide reference data that agents can read for context:

Available Prompts

Prompts provide guided workflows for common tasks:

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11 or higher

• pip or uv package manager

Quick Start

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/PharmacyMCP.git
   cd PharmacyMCP

2. Create a virtual environment

   Using venv (built-in):

   python -m venv .venv

   Or using uv (faster):

   uv venv .venv

3. Activate the virtual environment

   Windows (PowerShell):

   .\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

   Windows (Command Prompt):

   .venv\Scripts\activate.bat

   macOS/Linux:

   source .venv/bin/activate

4. Install dependencies

   Using pip:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

   Or using uv:

   uv pip install -r requirements.txt

5. Verify installation

   python src/dpd_server.py

   The server will start and listen at http://localhost:8000/mcp. Press Ctrl+C to stop.

Usage

Running the server

python src/dpd_server.py

The server starts on http://localhost:8000/mcp using the MCP Streamable HTTP transport.

Running with FastMCP CLI

fastmcp run src/dpd_server.py

Connecting from Claude Desktop

Start the server first (python src/dpd_server.py), then add to your Claude Desktop configuration (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pharmacy-dpd": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Installing in VS Code with GitHub Copilot

Start the server first, then add to your VS Code settings.json:

{
  "github.copilot.chat.mcpServers": {
    "pharmacy-dpd": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Connecting from Postman

Create a new MCP request in Postman and set the URL to:

http://localhost:8000/mcp

Example Queries

Once connected, you can ask questions like:

• "Search for drugs with the brand name Tylenol"

• "What are the active ingredients in drug code 48905?"

• "Find drugs containing acetaminophen"

• "What is the status of DIN 00326925?"

• "Get all information about drug code 2049"

• "Compare Tylenol and Advil"

• "Find generic alternatives to Lipitor"

How Agents Use Resources and Prompts

Resources

Agents automatically have access to reference data without making API calls. For example, when interpreting a status code like "4", the agent can read dpd://reference/status-codes to understand it means "Cancelled Post-Market".

Prompts

Prompts guide multi-step workflows. When you ask to look up a drug, the drug_lookup prompt provides a structured approach:

1. Search by brand name

2. Get the drug_code from results

3. Fetch comprehensive details

4. Present information in a clear format

API Reference

This server wraps the Health Canada DPD API:

• Base URL: https://health-products.canada.ca/api/drug/

• Documentation: DPD API Guide

Drug Status Codes

License

MIT