Q&A on the News
Q: A recent story, “Trying to solve the Alzheimer’s puzzle,” refers to two drugs, Solanezumab and Adacanumab. How does a medicine gets its name?
—Ken Duvall, Gainesville
A: In the United States, nonproprietary names, or generic names, for potential medicines are assigned by the U.S. Adopted Names Council, an arm of the American Medical Association.
Products marketed worldwide must also be ratified by the International Nonproprietary Name Expert Committee of the World Health Organization, Nicole Hebert, a global communication consultant for Eli Lilly and Co., told Q&A on the News in an email.
Nonproprietary names are “nicknames” for the long chemical name of the active ingredient. Pharmaceutical companies generally create the prefix, but the rest of the name is typically decided based on the drug class, chemical structure and mechanism of action, she wrote.
All nonproprietary names contain a “stem,” which places the active ingredient of the molecule into a specific therapeutic class. Solanezumab’s stem, –mab, places the active ingredient in the family of monoclonal antibodies. The –ne- represents the target, which is neurons, and the –zu- indicates the source of the antibody is defined as humanized.
“There are over 300 pre-existing stems, and the list continues to grow,” she wrote. “Companies must also ensure that the name isn’t too similar to other nonproprietary names, trademarks or company names.”
The name cannot contain anything derogatory in meaning and must also be able to be pronounced worldwide.
Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
