Where do they come up with brand names?

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Chris co2012

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This may be a stupid question... But I was just thinking about the two drugs LexaPRO and AvaPRO and wondered why they chose the ending "pro." Maybe it's a chemical structure or something.

Anyway, so that led me to wonder where brand names come from in general.

And yes, I'm a PharmD... but I was just curious and nobody's ever really brought it up.
 
They get a bag of Scrabble tiles and draw out random letters. :idea:

There are departments at the pharmaceutical companies, just like there are departments in other companies, that do searches to make sure that a drug name isn't, for example, an obscene word in some other language. However, the launch of Cialis was delayed by some months because some people whose last name is Cialis found out about this and sued the drug company to have the drug's name changed. As we can tell, they were unsuccessful.

And there's a nuclear power plant in my region called Exelon. No kidding.
 
There are agencies that specifically work on creating drug names (both generic and brand names). There are a lot of steps in that process and it takes on average about a year to come up with a name. There are a lot of factors that play into it.
 
Yup psychology plays into it as well. Also, some products have varying names in different countries. Examples: Chantix in the US is Champix ex-US; NovoLOG in the US is known as NovoRapid throughout Europe.

Take a peep at Martindale for all the varying names a product might have...nice way to blow an hour.
 
Ornade: Oral/Nasal/Decongestant

Premarin: Pregnant Mare's Urine

I'm sure there are more but that's off the top of my head.....
 
Ansaid (flurbiprofen): Another nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug

Warfarin was named after the Wisconsin Agricultural Research Facility, which discovered the link between clover and hemorrhaging cows.

Miltown (meprobamate) was named for the mill towns in which it was tested.

Many years ago, there was a cough remedy called Novrad. It was levopropoxyphene.
 
Sinemet: Latin, "sin" = without, and "emet" = emesis, or vomiting.
 
Sinequan was from "sine qua non", which was either Latin or Greek for a necessity. There used to be (maybe still is) a toothpaste called Vademecum, from "vade mecum", also meaning a necessity.
 
Last edited:
confettiflyer said:
Sinemet: Latin, "sin" = without, and "emet" = emesis, or vomiting.
Click to expand...

Forgot about that one! Levodopa causes vomiting in a huge percentage of patients when used in a dose high enough to control Parkinson's, and carbidopa is an inert agent that reduces the amount of levodopa needed. It has something to do with the decarboxylation process in the BBB, IIRC.

And then there was Cesamet and Emete-Con, neither of which are on the market any more AFAIK.

I've seen an OTC product called Rheaban, which is very self-explanatory.
 
I find Formulation R, which is a knockoff of Preparation H, quite an amusing name too.
 
Some low hanging fruit:

Fuzeon = indicative of its MOA
ADDerall = indication
NOVOlog = indicative of manufacturer (novo nordisk) + anaLOG of insulin
Cubicin = also indicative of manufacturer (Cubist)
Angiomax = indicative of indication (PTCA)
 
A native American boy asks his father...."father father...why do we name our children after first animal parents see as they're born...such as Sitting Bull, Running Bear, Screaming Eagle... Flying Hawk..."

The father responded...."That is the way of us...and what's wrong with that...F***ing Dog..?"
 
Flumazenil was originally going to be called Reversed, pronounced re-ver-sed.

When I first heard of Lyrica, I Googled the name, and most of the hits were for assorted musical groups, usually all-female and a cappella.
 
lol with Rapaflo and Flomax

Lasix=lasts six hours

Montelukast was invented in Montreal
 
Rapamune (sirolimus) = derived from a bacteria discovered on Rapa Nui (aka Easter Island) + mune as in immunosuppressive.
 
Curse you genesis for posting the Lasix one...I learned that from the tv show ER when Arnspaugh was yelling at Carter after he bailed on the surgical fellowship. (Yes, I am old.)

One I learned in school: Lincocin (lincomycin)= discovered in a soil sample from Lincoln, Nebraska.
 
some of the more recent generic names are partly based on MOA.
Los-ARtAn, et al are A-ngiotensin Receptor An-tagonists.

then there's the breakdown of all the monoclonal antibody names.
 
Its a damn shame they didn't offer a course on drug etymology in my university 😡
 
Dilantin: DIphenyLhydANToIN

Don't have a link handy, but I read somewhere that Dolophine, a brand of methadone, was named that in tribute to Hitler. 😱

Adderall was originally called Obetrol, because it was used as a diet aid.
 
Farmercyst said:
some of the more recent generic names are partly based on MOA.
Los-ARtAn, et al are A-ngiotensin Receptor An-tagonists.

then there's the breakdown of all the monoclonal antibody names.
Click to expand...
And the newest ARB is edARBi.

rph3664 said:
Adderall was originally called Obetrol, because it was used as a diet aid.
Click to expand...
I could also see it as Obedrol for obedient kids in school.

Cialis is tadalafil. Take off your pants and... Ta da! :meanie:
 
Morphine- From Morpheus, god of dreams and the black guy from Matrix.
Just got this :idea:
Tylenol - N-acetyl-para-aminophenol
 
rph3664 said:
Dilantin: DIphenyLhydANToIN

Don't have a link handy, but I read somewhere that Dolophine, a brand of methadone, was named that in tribute to Hitler. 😱

Adderall was originally called Obetrol, because it was used as a diet aid.
Click to expand...


Dolor means pain or suffering in latin.. kind of always assumed that was the reason, since dolophine was introduced post ww2 by eli lilly, a US company.
 
I'm very happy with how this thread turned out. Thank you guys for the interesting posts.
 
hereticmnk said:
Morphine- From Morpheus, god of dreams and the black guy from Matrix.
Just got this :idea:
Tylenol - N-acetyl-para-aminophenol
Click to expand...

Damn, i always thought that morphine was named that cause it was mo' fine , at least thats what one patient told me.
 
The companies actually send out sample names to pharmacists and asks pharmacists to vote on the names. I've seen it before. The pharmacist I shadowed was asked to do this.





Class of 2017

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I take surveys for Brand Institute or something like that where they ask surveys about potential brand names. They ask you to read rx's with doctor's hand writings, they ask you to remember the names you see, which ones you like, which ones you dislike, etc .. so some companies do that too.
 
rph3664 said:
Ansaid (flurbiprofen): Another nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug

Warfarin was named after the Wisconsin Agricultural Research Facility, which discovered the link between clover and hemorrhaging cows.

Miltown (meprobamate) was named for the mill towns in which it was tested.

Many years ago, there was a cough remedy called Novrad. It was levopropoxyphene.
Click to expand...

Warfarin
War-farin
war-fare-ing

Warfare causes bleeding.
 
cycloketocaine said:
Rph is right...it is named after the institute in Wisconsin.
Click to expand...

Atrapitis.gif
 
Emsam was named after the kids of the CEO of the manufacturer, Emily and Sam.

Viagra was chosen for its association with vigor and Niagara, but the name was actually trademarked for several years before Pfizer found a drug to go with that trade name.

Nexium is basically the next Prilosec. Doubly amazing for being able to steal The Purple Pill moniker from Prilosec and make it its own.
 
Ritalin: Wife of the chemist who first synthesized methylphenidate, Rita, liked to take it before playing tennis.
 
Aciphex is an obvious one, especially if you remember that the proper brand name spelling is AcipHex. Acid + pH.

Ultram is Ultra + tramadol.

Natrecor is natriuretic peptide + cor being the root word for heart. JNJ really is not very creative about their brand names.

Embeda has naltrexone embedded within morphine.

Pylera - from H. pylori which it was designed to treat.
 
Emla cream is a Eutectic Mixture of Local Anesthetics.

Dificid treats C.diff.

Prolastin is alpha-1 proteinase inhibitor, which prevents breakdown of elastin in the lungs.
 
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