Phonetic and Orthographic Computer Analysis (POCA) Program | FDA

Phonetic and Orthographic Computer Analysis (POCA) Program | FDA

FDA announces changes to its Phonetic and Orthographic Computer Analysis (POCA) program

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing changes to its Phonetic and Orthographic Computer Analysis (POCA) program. POCA is a software tool that uses an advanced algorithm to determine the orthographic and phonetic similarity between two drug names. The program can compare a drug name against multiple drug names found in several different data sources contained in the software. The modernized version of the POCA application, which will be cloud-based, will provide the public with a search capability similar to the current public version of POCA. This cloud-based version will eliminate the complex download processes required in the existing POCA public version of the application. This new system will eliminate the need for users to request access to the program and related software from FDA. For more information on POCA or to download POCA, visit the POCA program webpage.