# What is the process for naming new drugs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394 "2020-03-27T03:14:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![superwombat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superwombat/32/16616_2.png) [@superwombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superwombat)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394/1 "2020-03-27T03:14:39Z")
The chemical name I somewhat understand, but what of the generic name or the brand name? Is there a naming convention to follow to make it sound “mediciny?” ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394/2 "2020-03-27T03:20:59Z")
Hardball - [https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/how-do-drugs-get-named/2019-08](https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/how-do-drugs-get-named/2019-08) Softball - [FYI: How Does A Drug Get Its Name? | Popular Science](https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/fyi-how-does-drug-get-its-name/) Whiffle Ball - [The art and science of naming prescription drugs | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/25/health/art-of-drug-naming/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394/3 "2020-03-27T04:28:55Z")
National Lampoon years ago had an ad for Placebin, which apparently was good for treating a wide range of ailments. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394/4 "2020-03-27T04:46:50Z")
Back when it was legal to dispense placebos, there was a product called Obecalp. And of course there’s that competitor to Viagra called micoxafloppin (j/k). ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394/5 "2020-03-27T13:42:55Z")
[something like this](https://generatorhell.com/weed-name/) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394/6 "2020-03-27T18:58:32Z")
They hire the same people who name Japanese monsters. ---
**Author:** ![ALOHA\_HATER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@ALOHA\_HATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ALOHA_HATER)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394/7 "2020-03-27T19:07:16Z")
There are firms that specialize in naming drugs. Mostly they smash together words from English and classical languages in a way that sounds catchy. I remember reading an article where a pharma executive said that their copyright on the “Xanax” name was equally valuable as their patent to the formula itself. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394/8 "2020-03-27T19:53:32Z")
> [@ALOHA\_HATER](#): > > There are firms that specialize in naming drugs. Wonder if they cross-check their proposed names against a [list of fictional drugs](https://infogalactic.com/info/List_of_fictional_medicines_and_drugs) (some of these sound like actual pharma-speak). It wouldn’t surprise me if drug company execs cursed the producer(s) of “The Fugitive” for pre-empting the name Provasic\*. \*incredibly effective, yet with _absolutely_ no side effects! ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394/9 "2020-03-27T20:44:12Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > National Lampoon years ago had an ad for Placebin, which apparently was good for treating a wide range of ailments. I remember that ad: “Placebin: for the ‘problem patient’” I used to work in a pharma company and once someone from the marketing department gave a seminar on the art of brand names. A couple of things I vaguely remember: -Two or three syllables, ideally -Must be noticeably different than other drugs (you don’t want the pharmacist to mis- hear/misread the name and get things switched-up) -should evoke nice things. Bottom line; someone gets paid an awful lot of money to pull a name from their ass. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394/10 "2020-03-28T00:48:51Z")
> [@bizzwire](#): > > I remember that ad: “Placebin: for the ‘problem patient’” > > I used to work in a pharma company and once someone from the marketing department gave a seminar on the art of brand names. A couple of things I vaguely remember: > > -Two or three syllables, ideally > -Must be noticeably different than other drugs (you don’t want the pharmacist to mis- > hear/misread the name and get things switched-up) > -should evoke nice things. > > Bottom line; someone gets paid an awful lot of money to pull a name from their ass. Yes, this. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394/11 "2020-03-28T00:50:53Z")
I was a postdoc at a pharma company when a promising drug was moving from the lab into clinical trials. Marketing was working on a catchy name for the compound to supplant the numeric designation it previously had. They solicited suggestions by email from the staff at large. The name of the drug had to incorporate -pam, as it was a benzodiazepine derivative. They quickly pulled the plug on that effort as many of the suggestions received, although conforming to the naming convention, were nonetheless comical, scatological or obscene. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-process-for-naming-new-drugs/850394/12 "2020-03-28T04:06:26Z")
There are formulas for naming the newer “biologics” such as the [monoclonal antibody class](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomenclature_of_monoclonal_antibodies).