Health
How are prescription drugs named? A drug development expert shares the process
Some drugs may seem like they were named by throwing darts at the alphabet – but the process of drug naming is actually very intentional.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Dr. Dave Latshaw, CEO of the AI health care company BioPhy, revealed how medicines are labeled.
The Philadelphia-based doctor, formerly the AI drug development lead at Johnson & Johnson, said that he, too, at first questioned, “How do they even come up with these [names]?”
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Naming drugs can be viewed as a “staged process,” based on drug advancement, which begins with the chemical name, Latshaw said.
“If you’re talking about a small molecule, which is the most prevalent type of drug in development, that’s usually a combination of chemical-type names that you’ve probably seen mashed into a single line,” he said.
Naming drugs can be viewed as a “staged process,” based on drug advancement, which begins with the chemical name, a doctor said. (iStock)
“If it’s a biologic molecule, its chemical name is typically whatever sequence it happens to be, so that’s the actual chemical composition of the drug itself.”
Once a drug program is picked up by a company, Latshaw said, it is given an “internal code name.”
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That code is generally “less complicated” than the chemical name.
“And it usually reflects something about the name of the company and potentially what number in the pipeline it is,” he said.
Once a drug program is picked up by a company, it is given an “internal code name,” the doctor said. (BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
For example, the rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis drug Humira, which is developed by AbbVie (formerly Abbott), is referred to by its drug code, “ABT-D2E7.”
As the drug progresses, it is given a more formal yet generic name for its introduction to the public, Latshaw said.
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These evolved names are chosen through collaboration among a few different organizations, including the United States Adopted Names Council (USAN), which is part of the American Medical Association (AMA).
Since the 1960s, the USAN program has assigned generic names to all active drug ingredients in the U.S., in partnership with the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), according to the AMA Journal of Ethics.
Drugs names are chosen through a collaboration among a few different organizations, including the United States Adopted Names Council (USAN), which is part of the American Medical Association (AMA). (iStock)
“With few exceptions – [such as] prophylactic vaccines and mixtures not named by the USAN Council – a drug cannot be marketed in the United States without a USAN,” the publication wrote.
A drug’s generic name involves nomenclature that “tells you what the drug is,” Latshaw said, but in words rather than chemical structure.
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The doctor used the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra as an example, noting its formal name of Sildenafil.
The generic name uses a prefix and a suffix – the suffix, or “stem,” identifies the drug family, and the prefix serves as the drug’s “unique identifier.”
A drug’s generic name involves nomenclature that “tells you what the drug is,” an expert said, but in words rather than chemical structure. For the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, its formal name is Sildenafil. (Alex Segre/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“You have the suffix that is supposed to tell you what type of drug it is, and then they try to make the prefix as different as possible, relative to the other drugs within that family, so there’s minimal confusion when it comes to prescriptions … to minimize error,” Latshaw told Fox News Digital.
The prefix is most likely one or two syllables, according to the AMA.
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Once the drug is fully developed and ready for consumers, its brand name is used for commercial marketing, such as Humira or Viagra.
Humira’s generic name is “adalimumab,” with the “-mab” suffix identifying that the type of molecule in the drug is a monoclonal antibody.
The AMA offered the cancer drug “imatinib” as another example on its website, noting how the stem “-tinib” refers to the drug’s function as a tyrosine kinase (TYK) inhibitor.
Humira, the injectable rheumatoid arthritis treatment, is pictured in a pharmacy in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2006. (Jb Reed/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Latshaw shared that involved parties “do an incredible amount of research” when coming up with brand names to best differentiate them.
The USAN Council is “aware of the importance of coining names that will not be confused with other drug names, compromise patient safety, or mislead health care professionals and patients about the action or use of a new drug substance,” as stated in the AMA Journal of Ethics.
“Once you know this information, if you start seeing the names of drugs referenced, at least you can sort of understand it … and know there’s a relationship there,” Latshaw said.
“If somebody’s talking about a particular drug that might be beneficial to them, that might help them understand, at least at face value, that there are other alternatives … within the same drug family that they might consider or at least bring up with their doctor.”
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As colorectal cancer (CRC) is now the leading cause of cancer death in adults under 50, a new report reveals some surprising shifts in the incidence of the disease.
Although rates of CRC have been declining among seniors, those 65 and under are facing a rise in diagnoses, according to a report titled Colorectal Cancer Statistics, 2026, from the American Cancer Society.
Adults 65 and younger comprise nearly half (45%) of all new colorectal cancer cases — a significant increase from 27% in 1995, states the report, which was published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
The disease is rising fastest among adults 20 to 49 years old, at a rate of 3% per year.
Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in adults under 50. (iStock)
Among adults 50 and under, 75% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Half of the diagnoses in that age range are made between the ages of 45 and 49. Although that age group is eligible to receive routine screenings, just 37% do so.
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The report also revealed that rectal cancer is on the rise, now accounting for about one-third (32%) of all CRC cases — an increase from 27% in the mid-2000s.
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“After decades of progress, the risk of dying from colorectal cancer is climbing in younger generations of men and women, confirming a real uptick in disease because of something we’re doing or some other exposure,” said Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director, surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the report, in a press release.
Among adults 50 and under, 75% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Half of the diagnoses in that age range are made between the ages of 45 and 49. (iStock)
“We need to redouble research efforts to understand the cause, but also circumvent deaths through earlier detection by educating clinicians and the general public about symptoms and increasing screening in people 45-54 years.”
It is projected that 158,850 new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed this year, and that the disease will cause 55,230 deaths, per the report.
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More than half of CRC cases can be linked to high-risk behaviors, the researchers said. Those include lack of nutrition, high alcohol consumption, smoking, lack of exercise and obesity.
“These findings further underscore that colorectal cancer is worsening among younger generations and highlight the immediate need for eligible adults to begin screening at the recommended age of 45,” said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society.
When the disease is caught at a local (early) stage, the five-year survival rate is 95%. (iStock)
“The report also shines a light on the crucial importance of continued funding for research to help discover new therapies to treat the disease and advance patient care.”
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When the disease is caught at a local (early) stage, the five-year survival rate is 95%, the report stated.
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A new study suggests that middle-aged men may be more vulnerable to faster biological aging, potentially linked to exposure to “forever chemicals.”
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Aging, examined how perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS, could impact aging at the cellular level.
PFAS are synthetic chemicals commonly used in nonstick cookware, food packaging, water-resistant fabrics and other consumer products, the study noted.
Their chemical structure makes them highly resistant to breaking down, allowing them to accumulate in water, soil and the human body.
Chinese researchers analyzed blood samples from 326 adults enrolled in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2000.
A new study suggests that middle-aged men could face accelerated biological aging at the cellular level due to exposure to PFAS. (iStock)
The researchers measured levels of 11 PFAS compounds in participants’ blood and used DNA-based “epigenetic clocks” — tools that analyze chemical changes to DNA to estimate biological age — to determine how quickly their bodies were aging at the cellular level, the study stated.
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Two compounds, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA), were detected in 95% of participants.
Higher concentrations of those chemicals were associated with faster biological aging in men of certain age groups, but not in women.
“People should not panic.”
The compounds most strongly linked to accelerated aging were not the PFAS chemicals that typically receive the most public attention, the researchers noted.
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“The associations were strongest in adults aged 50 to 64, particularly in men,” Dr. Xiangwei Li, professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and the study’s corresponding author, told Fox News Digital.
“While this does not establish that PFAS cause aging, it suggests that these widely present ‘forever chemicals’ may be linked to molecular changes related to long-term health and aging.”
The study found that two of the compounds were detected in 95% of participants, and higher levels were linked to faster biological aging in men ages 50–64. (iStock)
Midlife may represent a more sensitive biological period, when the body becomes more vulnerable to age-related stressors, according to the researchers.
Lifestyle factors, such as smoking, may influence biological aging markers, potentially increasing vulnerability to environmental pollutants.
While Li said “people should not panic,” she does recommend looking for reasonable ways to reduce exposure.
That might mean checking local drinking water reports, using certified water filters designed to reduce PFAS, and limiting the use of stain- or grease-resistant products when alternatives are available.
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Meaningful reductions in PFAS exposure will likely depend on broader regulatory action and environmental cleanup efforts, Li added.
The researchers noted that midlife could be a particularly sensitive stage, when the body is more susceptible to stressors associated with aging. (iStock)
Study limitations
The researchers outlined several important limitations of the research, including that the findings show an association, but do not prove that PFAS directly causes accelerated aging.
“The study is cross-sectional, meaning exposure and aging markers were measured at the same time, so we cannot determine causality,” Li told Fox News Digital.
The study was also relatively small, limited to 326 adults age 50 or older, which means the findings may not apply to younger people or broader populations.
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Researchers measured PFAS levels using data collected between 1999 and 2000, and today’s exposure patterns may differ.
Li added that while PFAS is known to persist in the environment and the body, these results should be validated through larger, more recent studies that follow participants over time.
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