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Rare Medication

How it works

What happens after you send a request

A request travels the same way whether it comes from a patient or a hospital pharmacy: we take the exact presentation, check what the destination country allows, and ask licensed suppliers. What differs is the paperwork each route needs.

  1. You

    Send the details

    Medicine name or active ingredient, strength, dosage form, quantity band and destination country. Clear identifiers cut days off the answer.

  2. We

    Check fit and rules

    We look at what the destination country allows, which documentation the route needs, and whether a licensed channel exists at all. This is not a clinical review.

  3. We

    Come back with an answer

    A quotation, a referral to an authorized channel, a documentation request, or a clear no. Timelines vary with how complex the product is.

Access pathways and the terms procurement teams use

Requests for medicines that are unlicensed, unavailable, or in shortage in a given country travel along established regulatory pathways. Knowing which one applies shapes the documentation a request needs.

Named patient supply
Supply of a medicine that is not authorized in the destination country, requested by a treating physician for one identified patient. Also called named patient import or, in some jurisdictions, a special access route. The prescriber and the importing organization carry the regulatory responsibility; documentation usually covers the prescription, the patient identifier used locally, and an import permit where the national authority requires one.
Expanded access programs
Structured programs run by a manufacturer to provide an investigational or not-yet-authorized medicine outside a clinical trial, typically for a defined cohort with a serious condition and no adequate alternative. In the EU these are framed as compassionate use programs; in the US, expanded access under FDA rules. Access is decided by the sponsor and the regulator, not by a distributor.
Compassionate use
The wording used in most EU member states for supply of an unauthorized medicine to a group of patients with a chronic, seriously debilitating, or life-threatening condition. Practical scope varies by member state, so the same request can be handled differently in two neighbouring countries.
Shortage sourcing
An authorized medicine that is temporarily unavailable through the usual wholesaler because of allocation, a manufacturing interruption, or a discontinued presentation. Here the product is licensed and the question is channel and availability, not an exemption from authorization.

Rare Medication handles procurement inquiries and quotation workflows for licensed organizations. It does not run expanded access or compassionate use programs, does not contact regulators on a patient’s behalf, and does not supply medicines to individuals.