Target Substantiation of the content and semantic meaning (semantics) of the complex concept (concept) «drug supply» based on the choice of the most appropriate term from a number of existing options and clarification of its definition as a priority interdisciplinary area of pharmacy. Methods The initial materials of the study were publications on the organizational problems of pharmacy for the period 1971-2020, selected by the method of non-repetitive random selection from specialized journals, materials of conferences, congresses, dissertations and collections of papers. The information array included 2634 works, including 596 (22.63%) publications on the problems of drug supply. The scientific and methodological apparatus of the study included the scientometric method used to count the number of publications, content analysis and terminology meth- ods: logical-semantic, lexical, classification, comparison, and others. Results The array of terms used by specialists to designate drug supply was formed on the basis of content analysis of publication titles. Terms were selected that contained the words «drug», «pharmaceutical», etc. in combination with the words «pro- viding», «supply», «help», etc. The terms «drug care» and «drug provision» were most actively used, their total frequencies amounted to 127 and 289 positions, respectively. A logical-semantic analysis of the concept of «drug supply» has been carried out. To distinguish between the terms under discussion, a comparison of the definitions of «drug care» and «pharmaceutical care» is given. The modern se- mantic content of the concept «drug supply» is substantiated, taking into account the signs of the genus and type of the structural model of the formed definition. The relationship between the concept of «drug supply» and the concepts of «phar- maceutical activity», «circulation of medicines» and «logistics» is analyzed. The author’s classification of the types of «drug supply» by type of consumer is present- ed. As a result, a modern version of the definition was formulated: drug supply is a logistics process in the drug circulation system aimed at bringing drugs from the manufacturer (supplier) to the end user. Conclusion Evidence-based choice of the content and semantic meaning of the term «drug supply», the most adequate to its subject area, the proposed classification of types of drug supply and scientifically based formulation of the definition streamline sci- entific and practical knowledge in the field of pharmaceutical science and practice, optimize the educational process, due to the unambiguous interpretation of sub- jects, processes and phenomena, increase its effectiveness and optimize the subse- quent communication of pharmaceutical specialists in the profession and society.
