One of the things that frequently talked about in AMT (both V2 and V3) has been the “7 boxes”. From my experience when the AMT model is being discussed, it’s always presented as a single monolithic thing, specifically as per this image below (original available here). However, I feel like this unnecessarily complicates things, or at least intimidates newcomers.
For me, I consider AMT to consist of two things, the Trade Product Unit of Use (TPUU) and Containered Trade Product Pack (CTPP). The TPUU represents branded medicines, and the CTPP is branded packs of these medicine in various containers. As per below.
So what’s the difference? This “2 box” model tells you pretty much the same thing. The beauty of AMT, is that the semantic distance between any concept and the root, is consistent and predictable*. The other concepts shown in the “7 box” model, simply highlight the specific increase in semantics down the terminology.
- Medicinal Product (MP) : A Product with some Intended Active Ingredient.
- Medicinal Product Unit of Use (MPUU) : As above, but the form, unit of use and (usually a) strength of the product is also specified.
- Trade Product Unit of Use (TPUU) : As Above, but a specific brand (Trade Product – TP).
- Medicinal Product Pack (MPP) : Packs of a specific quantity of MPUU.
- Trade Product Pack (TPP): Branded Packs of a specific quantity of TPUU (which are branded version of MPUU).
- Containered Trade Product Pack (CTPP) : Same as TPP, but a specific container is specified.
That’s about it. Note sometimes the TPUU might be a more specific form too, though technically so could the Unit of Use* – but in practice it isn’t. But to be fair, a dense single page diagram like the “7 box”, still beats pages of documentation.
There’s also the Composite Unit, but if you’re struggling with that part of the model – well…
- The classification process does occasionally introduce extra steps for MPs and sometimes MPUUs, due to increasing ingredient combinations. However, for any given product, you’ll always find all 7 levels of specificity (at least).