How drugs are named

A marketed drug may have up to four different types of name: a chemical name, a company name, a generic name, and a brand name.

A chemical name is given when a novel chemical entity or biological is developed. The chemical name is a scientific name based on the compound's chemical structure and is almost never used to identify the drug in a clinical or marketing situation.

A company that is developing a new drug will give it a company code to identify it within the company, which is used prior to it being designated a generic name. For example CDP870 is UCB's company code for Cimzia®.

The generic name is commonly used to identify a drug during its useful clinical lifetime. It is also known as its International Non-proprietary Name or INN. INNs facilitate the identification of pharmaceutical substances or active pharmaceutical ingredients. Each INN is a unique name that is globally recognised and is public property. An INN is designated by the World Health Organization.

The company that patents a drug usually also creates its brand name, trade name or trademark. Under trademark law this name is owned by the company which has exclusive rights to use it. Drugs are often designated with a registered trademark, for example, Cimzia®, Keppra®, Xyzal®, Xyrem® and Neupro®. A drug may have more than one brand name.