Opinions - How do they create the names for certain drugs?

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Some might think this question is ridiculous but,some pharmaceuticals have some cool sounding albeit bizzare names.Nitrazepam for example known as Mogadon.Mogadon!Sounds like some Dungeons and Dragons creature or prehistoric monster.Alprazolam aka Xanax...hmm xanax sounds like some alien villain from a fifties b movie.Zolpiderm(Ambien)hmm Ambien sounds like something really pretty and peaceful.As far as swim knows these words aren't from Latin or any language swim knows of.So how do they come up with these names?Is swim stupid for wondering this?

Reputation Comments on this post:

Great question posed.

[kareena]

Like most companies all big pharma cares about is making money so first off all they want something that's going to sound catchy and memorable which most of them do. Xanax has gotta be the king of catchy memorable names and they sell a ton of it. Then they also seem to try to make the name resemble the job the drug's trying to do in most cases. So ambien and mogadon sound like they're gonna knock you the hell out which they do (ambien sounds a bit more peaceful than the sledgehammer knock out that is mogadon) where as something like abilify sounds pretty appropriate for an antipsychotic as it sounds like it's going to neutralise your brain (not very cool). Valium sounds pretty relaxing.
Xanax is a bit of the odd one out- it sounds as though it's more likely to induce an anxiety attack rather than pacify one!

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Yes Mogadon(nitrazepam) as swim said doesn't really sound like something that would knock you out.It sounds like the name of a dinosaur lol.Xanax(alprazolam)sounds like a sci fi villain.In swims opinion they may not sound like what they do they are without a doubt catchy though.Swim has used drug names for internet screennames so many times.Marezine is really cool sounding.What swim finds interesting is they aren't from any known language.Scientists often use Latin for naming things but not in the case of drugs it seems.

[kareena]

I guess the scientists that actually synthesise the drug do name them chemically and then they get their generic name (eg alprazolam) but then the brand naming is handed over to the marketing team who couldn't give two hoots about anything chemical/latin/based on a proper language etc and just want to make it sound as catchy as possible.
And doesn't it work! For example two of the biggest cash cows for big pharma probably have two of the most catchy names- xanax and prozac (fluoxetine). As you say xanax sounds like a sci-fi villain (and doesn't make me think that it would have anti-anxiety effects!) while prozac sounds a bit like an electric shock to me, but they get the money rolling.

EDIT: Just saw something interesting on wikipedia about the antipsychotic 'Geodon' (ziprasidone). The 'don' is "down" in greek while the 'geo' is "earth" in greek so this antipsychotic's name is actually about bringing the psychotic patient ' "down" to "earth" '.

[Zaprenz]

Mogadon to SWIM sounded like the people choosing the name had tried the drug. Nitrazepam is quite a sedating, knock out type benzo with possibly harsher withdrawals than others (?) Mogadon - sounds a powerful word.

Clopidogrel - a heart medication, SWIM finds this amusing, should be pronounced clo-pid-o-grel but SWIM just sees clopi-DOG-ROLL.

There seems to be more clever names these days:

Abilify [anti-psychotic] - Increase mental + life ability.
Provigil [Nootropic + Narcolepsy] - Increase vigilance
Seroquel [Anti-psychotic] - Sounds calming name

Generic names are usually the chemical name derived from whole formula.

E.g amphetamine.

Alpha-Methyl-PHenylEThylAMINE

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good post

[fnord]

i once read that theres company's whos only business is patenting non-existent drug names in case one day someone wants to use them they would then have to pay for the rights.

[Zaprenz]

Originally Posted by fnord

i once read that theres company's whos only business is patenting non-existent drug names in case one day someone wants to use them they would then have to pay for the rights.

Not surpring one bit I guess.

SWIM has always wondered the cost of patenting chemicals. Does anyone know if you need to provide proof that you actually MADE the drug in the lab?

There are a lot of chemical possibilities (exponentially large number of compounds) but I bet a computer could happily spit out obvious substitutions on all current successful drugs and not have TOO long a list.

[fnord]

i was talking about brand names for drugs not the actual chem itself.

[Zaprenz]

Originally Posted by fnord

i was talking about brand names for drugs not the actual chem itself.

Yeah was a good post, didn't realise about drug names being patented.

Was just wondering about chemical structures also as another topic but just SWIM thinking aloud.

[doggy_hat]

LOL, every time I read the name Mogadon, I just imagine a barbarian knocking someone out with a wooden club.

Reputation Comments on this post:

very true

[aionsan]

By drugs i'm pretty sure he meant DRUGS, not hard-ass pharmaceuticals.

[Shampoo]

Originally Posted by aionsan

By drugs i'm pretty sure he meant DRUGS, not hard-ass pharmaceuticals.

Did you read any posts in the thread? Perhaps the first one?

Originally Posted by Orchid_Suspiria

Some might think this question is ridiculous but,some pharmaceuticals have some cool sounding albeit bizzare names.Nitrazepam for example known as Mogadon.Mogadon!Sounds like some Dungeons and Dragons creature or prehistoric monster.Alprazolam aka Xanax...hmm xanax sounds like some alien villain from a fifties b movie.Zolpiderm(Ambien)hmm Ambien sounds like something really pretty and peaceful.As far as swim knows these words aren't from Latin or any language swim knows of.So how do they come up with these names?Is swim stupid for wondering this?

How can you read that and mistake it for not referring to pharmaceuticals?


Now, on topic, the FDA passed a recent law specifying that drugs that enter the market (I believe as of Jan. 1, 2008) cannot include names that have implications regarding the chemical function. Thus, the drugs that Zaprenz referred to (Abilify, Provigil...etc.) and others like Focalin, will not be able to renew their naming rights, and new drugs will not be able to design their name around a marketing campaign aimed at simple-linguistics. I am not sure wether or not this effects more suggestive titles like Seroquel, which doesn't necessarily include the function, but implies the effect.

[Winta]

Well, actually SWIM named one himself, Mephedrone, which he regreted quite a lot after, since it was not really the right thing to do.. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.

Anyway, it just proofs that you do not have to be someone big to name something, you just have to be one of the first talking about the drug, and beeing too lazy to write the whole chemical everytime