ACP pharmacy practice consultants have identified a few instances of pharmacies with only a community pharmacy licence providing repackaging services to other licensed pharmacies. Community pharmacies are not permitted to provide repackaging services to other licensed pharmacies unless they also possess a compounding and repackaging licence. Repackaging is defined as “subdividing or breaking up a manufacturer’s original package of a drug for the purpose of dividing and assembling the drug in larger or smaller quantities for redistribution or sale by retail.”1
For example, a community pharmacy may engage the services of another pharmacy to supply them with repackaged drugs, sometimes in specialized medication management systems (e.g., medication strips or blister packs), which are subsequently dispensed to patients.
Such an arrangement must only occur pursuant to a compounding and repackaging agreement signed by the licensees of each pharmacy. The pharmacy providing the repackaging service must hold a compounding and repackaging licence, while the receiving pharmacy must hold a community pharmacy licence. Only the community pharmacy may dispense directly to patients.
Remember, if your pharmacy is engaged in supplying medications to another pharmacy for subsequent dispensing to their patients, you require a compounding and repackaging licence. Pharmacies with a compounding and repackaging licence must also meet Standard 9 of the Standards for the Operation of Licensed Pharmacies (SOLP).
Please note that ACP Council amended the compounding and repackaging agreements in 2022, including the new definition for repackaging, as defined above. If you have an existing agreement in place, please ensure it is updated to the new template.
- Alberta College of Pharmacy, Compounding and Repackaging Pharmacy Agreement: Community Pharmacies ↩︎
