Obtaining Drugs For Research Use

Research Animal Resources does not provide or sell any drugs (anesthetics, antibiotics, analgesics, etc.) for research protocols. However, there are other options for obtaining drugs for research use, provided investigators have an approved ACUC protocol for use of the drugs.

Many drugs for animal use, such as enrofloxacin, meloxicam, carprofen, xylazine, and isoflurane, may be purchased from an approved veterinary distributor vendor (MWI Animal Health) under the auspices of the University Institutional Veterinarian. This excludes controlled drugs. Please see below for information on controlled drugs.

Approved Veterinary Distributor Vendor

MWI Animal Health 1-800-824-3703; Account #56333; SAP vendor #1007486

* Labs are required to use their own budget number/IOs for ordering under this account

Ordering

Call customer service and give them the account number. They will give you the product numbers and prices of the items you are interested in purchasing. Enter this information into the SAP shopping cart and place your order via SAP.

Payment

Utilizing the SAP system to generate the order is recommended. If paying with a credit card, that information must be given at the time of the phone order. You cannot use a budget number over the phone, nor is RAR able to pay the bill and charge it to your budget number.

Delivery

If orders are placed through the SAP system, they will be delivered to the address of the person placing the order. If orders are placed over the phone with a credit card for payment, request that the order be delivered directly to your lab.  If the company will only deliver to the address on the veterinary license, you MUST contact [email protected] to inform them about your delivery to either Ross 450 or Ross 459. Any unexpected deliveries will be returned to the vendor.

For further questions on obtaining drugs for research use, contact [email protected].

Controlled Substances

Controlled substances, such as ketamine and buprenorphine, require a research license for purchase. If investigators wish to purchase controlled drugs, they must have their own current, active Maryland Controlled Substance registration and must have their own current, active DEA registration for the substances ordered. These licenses will then be utilized to open their own account with MWI Animal Health.  

Information on applying for registration can be found below. Please note that this is a multi-step procedure and may take some time.

Obtaining Controlled Substances

Instructions for obtaining a DEA license for controlled substances

If using Schedule II-V drugs, follow these instructions:

Apply for the MD Controlled Dangerous Substances (CDS) registration at Maryland CDS Application. For Schedule II-V, you must do this before applying for the Federal DEA license. On the OCSA homepage, select “Practitioner- 3 year application.”

  • Once on the form, select Researcher Schedule II, III, IV, V depending on which drugs you will be using (Section 1A). The schedules for commonly used drugs can be found at DEA Drug Scheduling.
  • Provide a physical address where the drugs will be used, including building and laboratory room number (Section 2C).
  • For “Professional License #,” enter N/A if you do not have one (Section 3A).
  • For “Federal DEA license #,” enter Pending (Section 3B).
  • As a researcher, you will not prescribe drugs, so you do not need to register with the PDMP. Write N/A (Sections 4 & 5).
  • Save as a PDF when complete.

You will also need to fill out the Researcher Questionnaire.

  • For the questions on the form concerning storage, inventory, and disposal of controlled drugs, please refer to the ACUC website: Storage and Record Keeping of Controlled Drugs.
  • For the reverse distributor, JHU Department of Health and Environmental Safety will help facilitate disposal, but they are not a DEA-licensed reverse distributor. You must enter the information for the company they use if you intend to use this service. The required information is:Triumvirate EnvironmentalDEA license # RT0576198200 Inner Belt Rd, Somerville, MA 02143Phone: (866) 944-6983

Print out the application and Researcher Questionnaire and mail with payment of $120 (valid for 3 years) to the following address: OCSA, 4201 Patterson Avenue, 5th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21215.

Allow approximately 7-10 business days for the process to be completed, including mailing of permit. Application status can be checked at: OCSA Application Status. If OCSA verification web page states “pending,” contact OCSA for follow-up and clarification.

When the Maryland CDS registration is approved, apply for the federal DEA license. You will need your MD registration number to complete the form.

  • Go to DEA Registration.
  • Select “New Applications.”
  • Under Business Category, select “Researcher” (Form 225), scroll down to Business Activity and select the appropriate Researcher category.
  • Complete all sections, making sure the information matches what you entered for your MD application.
  • Submit credit card payment of $296 along with the completed form.
  • Federal DEA licenses must be renewed annually.

For Schedule I drugs, you must register with the Federal DEA first, then apply for the MD CDS registration.

If one has these licenses, then the next step is to set up your own account with MWI. Please contact [email protected] for the necessary forms and process, or call customer service at 1-800-824-3703 for more information.

Obtaining Extended-Release Buprenorphine Substances

Wedgewood Pharmacy permits PI’s/lab members with DEA licenses to create an account with them and order buprenorphine HCL in Polymer injection solution (formerly “Extended Release”) directly.  

If your lab has its own DEA license, please contact the following Wedgewood representatives to create an account:

If your lab/PI does not have a DEA license, please follow the link below for instructions on how to obtain one.

https://researchanimalresources.jhu.edu/obtaining-drugs-for-research-use/

Guidelines For Logging And Handling Controlled Substances

Please click here to download the JHU Animal Care and Use Committee’s current guidelines on record-keeping, storage, and disposal of drugs scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).