Administrable Passive Immunizing Agents 

This content is designed for use when populating a record at the point of administration and includes concepts represented by the trade name (brand name) of the passive immunizing agent (immune globulin or antitoxin) that was administered to the client. It consists of concepts from the Proprietary Medicinal Product class and from the SNOMED CT Pharmaceutical / biologic product hierarchy, that are described using their trade name (brand name). 

Scope Definition: 

The scope of this subset is passive immunizing agents that are currently licensed for use in Canada and those obtained through special access programs. The subset includes concepts represented by the trade name (brand name) of the passive immunizing agent (immune globulin or antitoxin) that was administered to the client. Passive immunizing agents are used to facilitate protection against vaccine preventable infections, when vaccines are not available or are contraindicated or when vaccines have not been used before exposure to the infective agent. This content is intended to be used when populating a record at the point of administration. 

General rules applied to this section 

  • The passive immunizing agents trade names will be represented as found in the Health Canada Drug Product Database (DPD) : it may be a mix of capital and lower-case letters; The product monograph is a reference for validation of detailed information.  
  • In most cases, the product trade name will be represented as found in Canadian Immunization Guide: it may be a mix of capital and lower-case letters.  
  • There is a requirement to clarify this rule going forward in relationship to the ‘sources of truth’ prioritization, where the capitalization has not been compliant.  
  • NOTE: PHAC does not assign manufacturers or marketing authorization holders (MAH) abbreviations for the passive agents, as these products are managed on a province-by-province basis (versus nationally). Some of the MAH also produce vaccines, so the PHAC abbreviation is used in those cases.  For those MAH without a PHAC abbreviation: an abbreviation has been assigned by Infoway, using the PHAC abbreviation guidelines. A similar situation may occur with the vaccine product manufacturer or MAH abbreviations, as PHAC uses distributer, not manufacturer, so there may be gaps. Refer to the  Immunization Page - Main Reference Documentation section. 

Fully Specified Name 

The format for the Fully Specified Name (FSN) is as follows: 

  • Trade name (qualifier) Strength Dose Form Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH) (real clinical drug)  
    • E.g.: HepaGam B 312 international units per milliliter liquid for injection Cangene Corporation (real clinical drug) 

 FSN Components 

  • A qualifier may be added to FSN 

Preferred Synonym (English) 

For further details on PS, please refer to the Picklists guidelines.  

The format for the Preferred Synonym (PS) is as follows: 

  • [PHAC/CHI Abbreviation Product] Trade name (qualifier)(strength) (Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH) Abbreviation if required)  
    • e.g.: [HBIg] HepaGam B (STR) 

PS Components 

  • When adding a qualifier on the PS, it is not capitalized, unless otherwise represented in the product monograph. 

Preferred Synonym (French) 

  • La plupart des synonymes privilégiés en français sont les même qu’en anglais, à l’exceptions de certaines abréviations qui peuvent différer. 
  • Quand il n’a pas été possible de trouver une abréviation en français l’abréviation anglaise a été conservée.  
    • Par exemple : [CMVIg] Cytogam ou [BIG-IV] BabyBIG 

Special access and out of country products 

  • Stakeholders of the Public Health Community have requested to create terminology concepts for the WHO-authorized vaccines administered outside of Canada. This is to support use cases related to international travel back to/into Canada (e.g. snowbirds, newcomers, etc.). This will help with immunization surveillance and will allow to have a more comprehensive understanding of vaccination coverage rates in Canada. 
  • Special Access Products (SAPs) and international vaccines cannot be found on DPD. There is no MAH for these products as they are not licensed in Canada. The new pattern will be as follows:  
  • Pattern:    
    • FSN: Trade Name (qualifier) Strength Dose Form (real clinical drug)   
    • English PT: [PHAC Product Abbreviation] Trade Name (qualifier) (strength)   



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