diff --git a/admin/app/models/installed_resource.ts b/admin/app/models/installed_resource.ts
index 0cfe36b..dedb76b 100644
--- a/admin/app/models/installed_resource.ts
+++ b/admin/app/models/installed_resource.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ export default class InstalledResource extends BaseModel {
   declare resource_id: string
 
   @column()
-  declare resource_type: 'zim' | 'map'
+  declare resource_type: 'zim' | 'map' | 'dataset'
 
   @column()
   declare collection_ref: string | null
diff --git a/admin/app/services/collection_update_service.ts b/admin/app/services/collection_update_service.ts
index 8b4e388..8800bba 100644
--- a/admin/app/services/collection_update_service.ts
+++ b/admin/app/services/collection_update_service.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,10 @@ export class CollectionUpdateService {
    * state (version + cool-off anchor) so the auto-updater can act on it later.
    */
   async checkForUpdates(): Promise<ContentUpdateCheckResult> {
-    const installed = await InstalledResource.all()
+    // ZIM/map catalog update path only — exclude `dataset` resources (e.g. the
+    // FDA drug labels), which are not filename-versioned and get their own
+    // freshness path. No-op today (no dataset rows are written in this slice).
+    const installed = await InstalledResource.query().whereNot('resource_type', 'dataset')
     if (installed.length === 0) {
       return {
         updates: [],
@@ -35,7 +38,11 @@ export class CollectionUpdateService {
     try {
       const catalog = new KiwixCatalogService()
       const latestByKey = await catalog.getLatestForResources(
-        installed.map((r) => ({ resource_id: r.resource_id, resource_type: r.resource_type }))
+        // `dataset` rows are filtered out above, so the type narrows to ZIM/map.
+        installed.map((r) => ({
+          resource_id: r.resource_id,
+          resource_type: r.resource_type as 'zim' | 'map',
+        }))
       )
 
       const now = DateTime.now()
@@ -47,7 +54,7 @@ export class CollectionUpdateService {
         if (latest && latest.version > resource.version) {
           updates.push({
             resource_id: resource.resource_id,
-            resource_type: resource.resource_type,
+            resource_type: resource.resource_type as 'zim' | 'map',
             installed_version: resource.version,
             latest_version: latest.version,
             download_url: latest.download_url,
diff --git a/admin/app/services/content_auto_update_service.ts b/admin/app/services/content_auto_update_service.ts
index fd798ab..ed2b32b 100644
--- a/admin/app/services/content_auto_update_service.ts
+++ b/admin/app/services/content_auto_update_service.ts
@@ -269,9 +269,15 @@ export class ContentAutoUpdateService {
       await this.maybeResetWindowBudget(config, now)
 
       // Local catalog check + persist available-update state for every resource.
-      const installed = await InstalledResource.all()
+      // ZIM/map catalog path only — `dataset` resources are excluded (they get
+      // their own freshness path; no-op today as none are written in this slice).
+      const installed = await InstalledResource.query().whereNot('resource_type', 'dataset')
       const latestByKey = await this.catalog.getLatestForResources(
-        installed.map((r) => ({ resource_id: r.resource_id, resource_type: r.resource_type }))
+        // `dataset` rows are filtered out above, so the type narrows to ZIM/map.
+        installed.map((r) => ({
+          resource_id: r.resource_id,
+          resource_type: r.resource_type as 'zim' | 'map',
+        }))
       )
       for (const resource of installed) {
         const latest = latestByKey.get(`${resource.resource_type}:${resource.resource_id}`) ?? null
@@ -321,7 +327,8 @@ export class ContentAutoUpdateService {
         const result = await this.collectionUpdateService.applyUpdate(
           {
             resource_id: candidate.resource.resource_id,
-            resource_type: candidate.resource.resource_type,
+            // `dataset` rows are filtered out of `installed` above, so ZIM/map.
+            resource_type: candidate.resource.resource_type as 'zim' | 'map',
             installed_version: candidate.resource.version,
             latest_version: candidate.version,
             download_url: candidate.download_url,
@@ -407,7 +414,9 @@ export class ContentAutoUpdateService {
     const now = overrides.now ?? DateTime.now()
     const withinWindow = isWithinWindow(config.windowStart, config.windowEnd, now)
 
-    const pending = await InstalledResource.query().whereNotNull('available_update_version')
+    const pending = await InstalledResource.query()
+      .whereNotNull('available_update_version')
+      .whereNot('resource_type', 'dataset')
     const eligible = pending.filter(
       (r) => this.resourceEligibility(r, config.cooloffHours, now).eligible
     )
@@ -506,7 +515,9 @@ export class ContentAutoUpdateService {
     const config = await this.getConfig()
     const now = DateTime.now()
 
-    const pending = await InstalledResource.query().whereNotNull('available_update_version')
+    const pending = await InstalledResource.query()
+      .whereNotNull('available_update_version')
+      .whereNot('resource_type', 'dataset')
     const resources: ContentAutoUpdateResourceStatus[] = pending.map((resource) => {
       const verdict = this.resourceEligibility(resource, config.cooloffHours, now)
       const size = resource.available_update_size_bytes ?? null
@@ -514,7 +525,8 @@ export class ContentAutoUpdateService {
         config.maxBytesPerWindow > 0 && size !== null && size > config.maxBytesPerWindow
       return {
         resource_id: resource.resource_id,
-        resource_type: resource.resource_type,
+        // `dataset` rows are filtered out of `pending` above, so ZIM/map.
+        resource_type: resource.resource_type as 'zim' | 'map',
         current_version: resource.version,
         available_update_version: resource.available_update_version,
         size_bytes: size,
diff --git a/admin/app/services/zim_service.ts b/admin/app/services/zim_service.ts
index 5a362e0..9b97338 100644
--- a/admin/app/services/zim_service.ts
+++ b/admin/app/services/zim_service.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ import WikipediaSelection from '#models/wikipedia_selection'
 import InstalledResource from '#models/installed_resource'
 import CollectionManifest from '#models/collection_manifest'
 import { RunDownloadJob } from '#jobs/run_download_job'
+import { DownloadDrugDataJob } from '#jobs/download_drug_data_job'
+import { DrugReferenceService } from './drug_reference_service.js'
 import { SERVICE_NAMES } from '../../constants/service_names.js'
 import { CollectionManifestService } from './collection_manifest_service.js'
 import { KiwixLibraryService } from './kiwix_library_service.js'
@@ -263,6 +265,30 @@ export class ZimService {
     const downloadFilenames: string[] = []
 
     for (const resource of toDownload) {
+      // A `dataset` resource (e.g. the FDA drug labels) is DB-ingested, not a
+      // ZIM file — route it to the drug download+ingest pipeline instead of
+      // RunDownloadJob. The installed-filter above queries resource_type='zim',
+      // so a dataset is never seen as installed and would re-dispatch the ~1.7 GB
+      // download on every tier select. Guard against that with the existing
+      // drug-status signal: skip when the data is already present.
+      // (Planned follow-up: write an InstalledResource 'dataset' row on ingest
+      // 'ready' so the tier-status/badge math recognizes it uniformly — a
+      // maintainer decision still pending, out of scope for this slice.)
+      if (resource.type === 'dataset') {
+        const drugReferenceService = new DrugReferenceService()
+        const status = await drugReferenceService.getIngestStatus()
+        if (status.phase === 'ready' || status.rowCount > 0) {
+          logger.info('[ZimService] Drug dataset already ingested, skipping dispatch.')
+          continue
+        }
+        // DownloadDrugDataJob.dispatch() is idempotent on its deterministic
+        // jobId — a concurrent in-flight download returns "already running"
+        // without re-adding, so this is safe to call repeatedly.
+        await DownloadDrugDataJob.dispatch()
+        logger.info('[ZimService] Dispatched drug data download for dataset resource.')
+        continue
+      }
+
       const existingJob = await RunDownloadJob.getActiveByUrl(resource.url)
       if (existingJob) {
         logger.warn(`[ZimService] Download already in progress for ${resource.url}, skipping.`)
diff --git a/admin/app/validators/curated_collections.ts b/admin/app/validators/curated_collections.ts
index af0d2b9..58c097a 100644
--- a/admin/app/validators/curated_collections.ts
+++ b/admin/app/validators/curated_collections.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ export const specResourceValidator = vine.object({
   description: vine.string(),
   url: vine.string().url(),
   size_mb: vine.number().min(0).optional(),
+  // Resource-type discriminator (absent == 'zim'). Required here because VineJS
+  // strips unknown keys, which would silently drop the field on manifest fetch.
+  type: vine.enum(['zim', 'dataset']).optional(),
 })
 
 // ---- ZIM Categories spec (versioned) ----
diff --git a/admin/types/collections.ts b/admin/types/collections.ts
index b8fbdb4..81e6024 100644
--- a/admin/types/collections.ts
+++ b/admin/types/collections.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ export type SpecResource = {
   description: string
   url: string
   size_mb: number
+  /**
+   * Resource-type discriminator. Absent == 'zim' so every existing manifest
+   * entry keeps the current ZIM download path. 'dataset' routes the tier
+   * installer to the DB-ingested drug pipeline instead.
+   */
+  type?: 'zim' | 'dataset'
 }
 
 export type SpecTier = {