Ann Clin Neurophysiol.  2021 Apr;23(1):29-34. 10.14253/acn.2021.23.1.29.

Nomenclature of emerging therapeutics in neurology

• Shin JH
• Park YE
• Kim DS

• KMID: 2515605
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14253/acn.2021.23.1.29

Abstract

New therapeutics in neurology are expanding at an unprecedented pace. In addition to the classic enzyme-replacement therapies, monoclonal antibodies are increasingly being used to modulate autoimmunity. RNA therapeutics are an emerging class, together with gene and cell therapies. The nomenclature of international nonproprietary names helps us to recognize these new drugs according to their class and function. Suffixes denote major categories of the drug, while infixes provide additional information such as the source and target.

Keyword

Systematized nomenclature of medicine; Biological therapy; Genetic therapy

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Example name of a monoclonal antibody. Target substem: ‘-li(m)-’ for immunomodulating, ‘-tu-’ for tumor target, ‘-ne-’ for neural target, ‘-ci-’ for cardiovascular target; source substem: ‘-ximab’ for chimeric monoclonal antibody, ‘-zumab’ for humanized monoclonal antibody, ‘-umab’ for fully humanized antibody, ‘-mab’ without source designation for newer monoclonal antibodies.

• 

  Fig. 2. Example name of a gene-therapy agent. The gene component consists of fantasy element, transgene, and the suffix ‘-gene.’ The vector component also carries a fantasy element and announces its vector type. USAN, United States Accepted Name; SMN, survival of motor neuron; AAV, adeno-associated virus.

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