FDA to Hold Hearing on Planned Changes to National Drug Code Format

The Food and Drug Administration will hold a public hearing Nov. 5 to discuss planned changes to the format of national drug codes, it said in a notice. The agency will sometime in the future begin issuing 11-digit NDCs once it runs out of the five-digit drug labeler codes that make up a portion of NDCs. FDA anticipates that will happen in about 15 years. The hearing will include discussion of how a change to 11-digit codes will impact the pharmaceutical supply chain, as well as issues related to the current lack of uniformity among NDCs. Written comments are due by Jan. 5, 2019.