The Orange Guide: Rules and Guidance for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Distributors (familiarly known as the Orange Guide) is an essential reference work for all those involved in the manufacture or distribution of medicines in or for Europe. It is compiled by the UK drug regulatory body, the MHRA, and brings together the European and UK guidance documents and information on legislation relating to the manufacture and distribution of medicines for human use. It therefore contains EU guidance on good manufacturing and good distribution practice along with relevant information on EU and UK legislation.

The Orange guide is not available for free access but a sample chapter on premises and equipment can be found here. A full list of its index is also available here.

The publication Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations (the List, commonly known as the Orange Book)  is a list that identifies drug products approved on the basis of safety and effectiveness by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act).

Did you know that when the first print edition of Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations was being prepared October 1980, staff members in the Office of Generic Drugs had to choose a color for the cover. The project manager suggested, “It’s almost Halloween. How about orange?” Before long, The Orange Book had become a popular short title for this important publication. Courtesy FDA

The downloadable Orange Book “list” can be found here:

http://www.fda.gov/drugs/informationondrugs/ucm129689.htm