International Nonproprietary Name

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Overview

An International Nonproprietary Name (INN; also known as rINN, for recommended International Nonproprietary Name) is the official non-proprietary or generic name given to a pharmaceutical substance, as designated by the World Health Organization (WHO). The plethora of named proprietary preparations containing a given substance can lead to confusion about the identity of the active ingredient. INNs facilitate communication by providing a standard name for each substance. A similar role is played in chemistry by IUPAC names; however, these are less suited to common usage, being typically very long and unwieldy. WHO issues INN names in English, Latin, French, Russian, and Spanish; Arabic and Chinese versions, although not included in the original scheme, are now also being issued.

Name stems

Drugs from the same therapeutic or chemical class are usually given names with the same stem. Stems are mostly placed word-finally, but in some cases word-initial stems are used. They are collected in a publication informally known as the Stem Book.[1]

Example stems are:[1]

Example

INN: Paracetamol
British Approved Name (BAN): Paracetamol
United States Adopted Name (USAN): Acetaminophen
Other generic names: N-acetyl-p-aminophenol, APAP, p-Acetamidophenol, Acetamol, ...
Proprietary names: Tylenol®, Panadol®, Panamax®, Perdolan®, Calpol®, Doliprane®, Tachipirina®, ben-u-ron®,Atasol®, and others
IUPAC name: N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-acetamide

See also

External links


cs:Mezinárodní nechráněný název de:International Nonproprietary Name it:Denominazione comune internazionale hu:Nemzetközi szabadnév (gyógyszer) nl:International Nonproprietary Name no:INN-klassifikasjon th:INN

Template:WH Template:WikiDoc Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 "The use of stems in the selection of International Nonproprietary Names (INN) for pharmaceutical substances" (PDF). World Health Organization. 2011. WHO/EMP/QSM/2011.3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2014.