How are Prescription Biologic Drug names determined?

2021-07-11
TJ
TJ Wolf
Community Voice

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How are Prescription Biologic Drug names determined?

As someone who took the biologic medication Belimumab, brand name Benlysta, for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), I wondered how do they come up with these drug names?

Belimumab?

Do they make this stuff up as they go?

I started to notice other drugs with a similar naming convention or scheme, either mentioned in advertisements or articles.

For example; Rituximab (Mabthera), a cancer medication, is frequently mentioned in COVID-19 vaccination articles.

So I set out to learn why or what these names mean.

Naming Scheme

The following sections of the article detail the various components that go into the naming scheme. Italicized portions are taken from the American Medical Association (AMA) article: United States Adopted Names - Gene Therapy Naming Scheme

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Two scientists working on vials in a laboratory.National Cancer Institute/Unsplash

Since I researched on the basis of Belimumab, the following details about naming schemes are specific to noncellular products produced by insertion of genetic material (transgene) into a vector (virus or plasmid) and where altered genetic material is administered to patients as a biologic drug.

From my layman's understanding, Belimumab is the latter: where altered genetic material is administered to patients as a biologic drug.

First Word

The first word in the naming scheme corresponds to the gene component.

Prefix: Fantasy element to provide unique identification; to contribute to the distinct name.

Aha! So they are making some of this stuff up!

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Wizard working on a potion bowl.Artem Maltsev/Unsplash

I must say I like the description Fantasy element, although I would be hesitant to inject myself with something named Merlinsmagical-mumab.

Infix: Element to denote the gene’s mechanism of action (pharmacologic class) such as:

Stem: Element to indicate gene.

Second Word

The second word in the naming scheme corresponds to the vector component.

Prefix: Fantasy element to provide unique identification; to contribute to the distinct name

There's that fantasy part again!

Infix: Element to denote the type of viral vector such as:

Stem: Element to identify type of vector

Belimumab?

Hopefully, the material above is helpful to you in understanding the naming of certain drugs. However, it did not appear to answer my own Belimumab question. Apparently, the stem -mab is not included in the AMA article.

Per Wikipedia...

The stem -mab is used for monoclonal antibodies as well as for their fragments...

And based on the Belimumab target, B-cell activating factor (BAFF, BLyS), you get a sense of the generic and brand name, Benlysta, evolved.

Primary Source

A thank you to the American Medical Association (AMA) for the article I utilized in my research:

United States Adopted Names - Gene Therapy Naming Scheme

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TJ Wolf
My primary mission is to spread awareness about the disease Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and many of its comorbidities. Given m...