H: Systemic hormonal preparations, excluding sex hormones and insulins

ATC group H covers hormones acting throughout the body, except sex hormones and insulins, such as corticosteroids, thyroid drugs and pituitary hormones.
Updated

September 25, 2026

ATC group H holds hormones that act throughout the body, apart from the sex hormones, which are in group G, and the insulins, which are in group A [1].

In 1950, Edward Kendall, Tadeus Reichstein and Philip Hench shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for their discoveries relating to the hormones of the adrenal cortex, their structure and biological effects” [2].

Table 1: ATC H level 2 codes
Description In plain terms Example drug
H01 Pituitary and hypothalamic hormones and analogues hormones of the brain’s master glands Somatropin (H01AC01) / desmopressin (H01BA02)
H02 Corticosteroids for systemic use Prednisolone (H02AB06) / dexamethasone (H02AB02)
H03 Thyroid therapy Levothyroxine sodium (H03AA01) / thiamazole (H03BB02)
H04 Pancreatic hormones pancreas hormones; here glucagon only, not insulin Glucagon (H04AA01) / dasiglucagon (H04AA02)
H05 Calcium homeostasis keeping blood calcium and parathyroid hormone balanced Teriparatide (H05AA02) / cinacalcet (H05BX01)

Hormones the body already makes

Several drugs in this group are the body’s own hormone: hydrocortisone (H02AB09) is cortisol, and levothyroxine sodium (H03AA01) is thyroxine. For both, a measured concentration contains the dose and the body’s own production together, and pharmacokinetic studies have to deal with that endogenous baseline [3,4]. How this is done for hydrocortisone is described under H02, and for levothyroxine under H03.

References

[1]
WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology. ATC/DDD index 2026 2026.
[2]
Nobel Prize Outreach. The nobel prize in physiology or medicine 1950 1950.
[3]
Melin J et al. Predicting cortisol exposure from paediatric hydrocortisone formulation using a semi-mechanistic pharmacokinetic model established in healthy adults. Clinical Pharmacokinetics 2018;57:515–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40262-017-0575-8.
[4]
Walter-Sack I et al. Assessment of levothyroxine sodium bioavailability: Recommendations for an improved methodology based on the pooled analysis of eight identically designed trials with 396 drug exposures. Clinical Pharmacokinetics 2004;43:1037–53. https://doi.org/10.2165/00003088-200443140-00006.