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Veterinary professionals have more options than ever to turn to for compounded patient drugs. More options means more complexity and questions for both individual patient orders and in-house bulk stock.
Knowing the differences between 503A compounding pharmacies and 503B outsourcing facilities, and the benefits of each, ensures you’re providing your patients with the highest standard of care.
Use our chart below for a quick review of the basics, explore our blogs, or find even more in our full library of resources!
Both traditional 503A compounding pharmacies and 503B outsourcing facilities serve as important partners for veterinary practices.
They each operate with key differences that impact your patient care and influence treatment plans.
Stokes Healthcare has prepared medications for your individual patients since 1975 through Stokes Pharmacy. Recognizing the evolving needs of veterinary practices as regulations and laws changed, including GFI 256 and USP Guidelines, we expanded to include Epicur Pharma to serve the needs of many of your patients with standardized and tested bulk medications.
The chart below reviews some of the key differences between 503A pharmacies and 503B outsourcing facilities, and how each of our divisions can support your practice and patients.
503A
503B
Type of Facility
Traditional Compounding Pharmacy
FDA Registered Facility
Product Purpose
Customized prescriptions for individual patients
Manufactured drugs in bulk quantities for hospitals
Regulatory Oversight
State Boards of Pharmacy
FDA
Regulations
USP (United States Pharmacopeia)
cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Processes)
Product Dating
Beyond-Use Date (limited)
Expiration Date (proven)
FDA inspections
For cause (approx. 3k compounding pharmacies)
Random inspections (approx. 69 facilities)
Through each of our divisions, Stokes Healthcare can support your practice’s prescription and bulk order needs.
Epicur’s manufactured products are available for individual patient prescriptions through Stokes Pharmacy. As an FDA Registered 503B Outsourcing Facility with a set process for developing each drug, Epicur has a specific product list.
Download our product lists:
If you’re looking to order a customized prescription for a specific drug, strength, or dosage form, that is not available through Epicur Pharma, Stokes Pharmacy can help!
For existing iFill accounts, login and order:
To refill a specific patient prescription:
Are you a new partner? Start your account online or call us at 888-508-5032.
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All information provided on this site is for educational purposes only. Every effort has been made to provide accurate and up-to-date information. It is not intended to be used as medical advice for the diagnosis of health problems nor does it include all possible uses, actions, safety measures, side effects, or interactions. Please consult a healthcare provider or veterinarian for the diagnosis and treatment of any health conditions. Epicur Pharma® manufactured veterinary orders are for non food chain animals only. Epicur Pharma® is registered with the FDA as an outsourcing facility.
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