Supplying Medicines and Supplements to the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic has one of the fastest registration routes in Latin America. Since 2023, products registered by the FDA or EMA can get a provisional registration in two business days and a final one within 30 days.

A foreign company can hold the registration itself, with local representation that includes a pharmacist. The standard route takes about three to six months, and the state medicines programme, PROMESE/CAL, runs large public tenders.

The Dominican Republic at a glance

How to supply medicines to the Dominican Republic

1. Arrange local representation. Appoint a Dominican representative with a pharmacist, and work with an importer authorised by the Ministry of Health.
2. Pick the route. FDA or EMA registration opens the two-day provisional route. Otherwise, allow three to six months.
3. Prepare the dossier. A CTD dossier with a CoPP and the plant's GMP evidence.
4. Supply. Private distributors and pharmacies, or PROMESE/CAL tenders, where past tender documents required bidders to be legally domiciled and registered as state suppliers. The country also takes part in COMISCA's joint price negotiation.

For a medicine not registered in the Dominican Republic, ask your importer whether a special import permit is possible for your case. See named-patient and special import and government tender supply.

Supplements

Supplements need a sanitary registration (registro sanitario) from DIGEMAPS before they are sold. We help brands get supplements made under their own label by GMP-certified contract manufacturers: see nutraceutical private label.

What people in the Dominican Republic search for

Semrush data from October 2026 shows that people in the Dominican Republic search most for vitamin D (about 8,100 searches a month), vitamin C (6,600), vitamin E and creatine (5,400 each) and vitamin B12 (4,400). Among medicines, ibuprofen, metronidazole, cetirizine, paracetamol and loratadine lead.

Dominicans search in Spanish: “vitamina D” gets about 8,100 searches a month, “vitamina C” 6,600, “vitamina E” and “creatina” 5,400 each, “vitamina D3” 4,400 and “proteína whey” 2,900 (Semrush, October 2026). Medicines are typed by their Spanish generic name, such as “ibuprofeno” (about 12,100 a month), “metronidazol” (8,920), “cetirizina” (8,780) and “loratadina” (8,100).

How importers and distributors in the Dominican Republic search

Across seven Central American and Caribbean markets combined, the Dominican Republic among them, Google Keyword Planner shows “droguería” between 1,000 and 10,000 monthly searches and “distribuidora de medicamentos”, “laboratorio farmacéutico” and “principios activos” between 100 and 1,000. Semrush also picks up “proveedor médico” locally, at about 30 a month.

Originator brands searched by name include Mounjaro (tirzepatide), Ozempic (semaglutide), Nexium (esomeprazole), Forxiga (dapagliflozin), Lasix (furosemide) and Januvia (sitagliptin). Brand names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the medicine.

Supplements we can help you make

The most searched medicines include ibuprofen (ibuprofeno, about 12,100 a month), metronidazole, cetirizine, paracetamol, loratadine and pregabalin. Some examples we list:

Documents to ask your supplier for

• A Certificate of a Pharmaceutical Product (CoPP) in WHO format.
• The plant's GMP evidence, such as a WHO-GMP, EU-GMP or PIC/S certificate, plus any inspection by your regulator.
• The registration dossier (CTD or ACTD), with bioequivalence data for generics where required.
• Stability data for hot climates.
• A Certificate of Analysis for every batch.

Not sure a supplier is genuine? Read how to verify a pharmaceutical supplier. For the neighbouring markets, see our Latin America and Caribbean import guide.

Frequently asked questions