Glossary: Pharmaceutical Wholesale, Import and Trial Supply Terms
Plain-language definitions of the terms that come up in Canadian pharmaceutical sourcing — DIN, DEL, SAP, foreign pack, named patient, comparator, IOR/EOR, cold chain and more.
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) — The substance in a medicine that produces its effect. The finished product (tablet, vial) is the "drug product"; the API is what is inside it.
Cold chain — Temperature-controlled storage and transport of a product from manufacture to the point of use, with continuous monitoring. Typically 2–8 °C for refrigerated products, with frozen and ultra-cold ranges for some biologics and cell and gene therapies.
Comparator — The commercial medicine a clinical trial uses as its control or reference arm. The sponsor buys it on the open market and must document its provenance.
DEL (Drug Establishment Licence) — The licence Health Canada issues to a company to fabricate, package, label, test, import, distribute or wholesale drugs in Canada. The licence lists which of those activities the company is authorized for. Nexara holds DEL 3-002896-A.
DIN (Drug Identification Number) — The eight-digit number Health Canada assigns to each authorized drug product. See "How to Read a Canadian DIN Record".
DPD (Drug Product Database) — Health Canada's public database of all DINs and their status.
Dormant — A DPD status meaning the company has reported no sales for 12 consecutive months.
EOR (Exporter of Record) — The party legally responsible for an export shipment's compliance in the country it leaves.
Foreign pack — A product carrying another country's labelling, imported into Canada under a specific Health Canada authorization (for example, the exceptional importation list during a shortage).
GMP / GDP — Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Distribution Practices: the quality standards for making, storing and moving medicines. In Canada, wholesaler storage and distribution obligations fall under the GMP requirements attached to a DEL; "GDP" is the equivalent EU/WHO terminology.
IOR (Importer of Record) — The party legally responsible for an import shipment: customs declaration, duties, and compliance with the destination country's rules.
Named-patient supply — Supplying an unlicensed medicine to a specific patient at a clinician's request. In Canada this is done through the Special Access Programme.
NOC (Notice of Compliance) — The document Health Canada issues when it authorizes a drug submission; the DIN follows.
Parallel import / parallel trade — Importing a product authorized in one market into another market where the same product is also authorized, usually because of a price difference. Common within the EU; not a routine mechanism in Canada.
SAP (Special Access Programme) — Health Canada's programme that lets a practitioner request a drug not authorized for sale in Canada for a patient with a serious or life-threatening condition.
Shortage (Tier 3) — Health Canada's highest shortage tier, reserved for shortages with the greatest potential impact on the health system. Tier 3 status is what typically triggers exceptional importation.
Wholesaler — A licensed company that buys drugs from manufacturers or other wholesalers and sells them to pharmacies, hospitals, and other licensed buyers, without altering the product.
Last reviewed September 2026.