Understanding the Reason Behind Tongue-twisting Names of Drugs

A new study has delved into the reason why drugs come with tongue-twisting generic names.

C and EN Associate Editor Carmen Drahl explained that until 1961 there was no standard for assigning drugs generic names, which are different from brand names like Tamiflu (oseltamivir), Nexium (esomeprazole) and Herceptin (trastuzumab).

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That is when three medical organizations created the U.S. Adopted Names (USAN) Council to assign simplified alternatives to the unwieldy proper names the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry gives to molecules.

For instance, under USAN's guidance, "cis-8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide" becomes "zucapsaicin." The council recommends generic names to an international agency of the World Health Organization.

The tongue-twisting words the USAN Council creates are products of "stems" that describe a drug's characteristics, which Drahl likens to the Latin and Greek roots of many English words.

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For instance, the "-prazole" ending of Nexium's generic name, esomeprazole, reveals that it is a type of antiulcer medication. Similar drugs will have the same stems in their names, allowing those familiar with the stems to crack the code.

The USAN Council is careful to avoid words that are difficult to pronounce in foreign languages or that may have other meanings abroad.

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Sometimes, Drahl noted, a generic name will also include hints about its developer that a drug company has suggested to the council.

The study has been published in Chemical and Engineering News (C and EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.

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Source-ANI