Brand Name Drug

BRAND

pharmacy

Updated 5/16/2026

Definition

In pharmacy, PBM, and claims systems, a brand name drug is a proprietary, trademarked medication marketed by the originating manufacturer under an FDA-approved name. Identified by specific NDC codes and DAW codes in claims transactions, tracked in formulary management systems for tier placement, prior authorization rules, and generic substitution logic.

Standard Abbreviation

BRAND

Database Usage

-- Example column naming
CREATE TABLE claims (
  clm_id VARCHAR(50),
  brand VARCHAR(255),  -- Brand Name Drug (max 255 chars)
  ...
);

-- Example in SELECT
SELECT
  clm_id,
  brand as brand_name_drug
FROM claims;

Common uses in healthcare data

PBM claims adjudication and drug utilization review
Controlled substance monitoring and DEA compliance
Pharmacy data warehouse and ETL pipeline design
Prior authorization and step therapy workflows
Medicare Part D reporting and CMS submissions

Example database column name

ISO-11179 snake_case standard

-- Recommended column name
brand

-- Example DDL
CREATE TABLE healthcare_data (
  record_id   VARCHAR(50)   NOT NULL,
  brand        VARCHAR(255),  -- Brand Name Drug (max 255 chars)
  created_dt  TIMESTAMP     NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW()
);

Column names follow the ISO-11179 naming convention: lowercase, underscore-separated, using the standard abbreviation as a prefix where applicable.

Looking for more healthcare terms?

Browse our complete library of 100,000+ standardized healthcare data terms

Browse All Terms