Back to Explorer

Best Practices in Developing Proprietary Names for Human Prescription Drug Products; Guidance for Industry: Guidance for Industry

FinalCenter for Biologics Evaluation and Research Center for Drug Evaluation and Research12/08/2020

Description

FDA is issuing this guidance to help sponsors of human prescription drug products develop proprietary names for those products. This guidance describes best practices to help minimize proprietary name-related medication errors and otherwise avoid adoption of proprietary names that contribute to violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and its implementing regulations. It also describes the framework FDA uses in evaluating proposed proprietary names that is also available to sponsors to use before submitting names for FDA review if they wish. This guidance does not address the designation of established names or proper names.

Scope & Applicability

Product Classes

8
Human Prescription Drug Products

Scope of the guidance document; Scope of the proprietary name guidance

specialty drugs

When evaluating proprietary names for specialty drugs

Extended-release product

Commonly understood meaning for modifiers XR and ER

Combination Product

Products combining drug, device, or biological constituents; Generally recommended for Enhanced Documentation; Requires 14971-based framework incorporating ICH Q9; A drug-device combination where the device constituent part detects ingestion.

Biological products

development program for drug and biological products

prescription drugs

products subject to DSCSA tracing requirements

Oral contraceptives

Example of a class with specific naming conventions; Use of modifiers Lo and Tri in naming

Generic equivalents

Marketed versions of discontinued brand drugs

Stakeholders

7
Sponsor

Entity responsible for submitting applications under section 524B

consumers

MAHs are expected to follow-up all pregnancy reports from consumers

health care professional

Individual who administers compounded drugs in a health care setting

End user

patient, caregiver, physician, nurse, pharmacist involved in medication use

Health care professionals

End users who use proprietary names for prescribing and dispensing; actively practicing health care professionals, such as prescribers, medical transcribers, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, or nurses

sponsors

Target audience for recommendations on assessment of overall survival

USAN Council

creates the stem list used to screen proposed proprietary names

Regulatory Context

Attributes

10
Orthographic similarity

Visual similarity between names that may cause errors

Low Similarity Name Pairs

combined score is ≤54%

dosage

present the proprietary name with the corresponding product characteristics

safety

evaluating pubertal development for evaluation of safety

efficacy

Outcome measure for participant response to drug names

low-dose estrogen

Indicated by the modifier Lo

Long acting

Meaning of the modifier LA

Double strength

Meaning of the modifier DS

Modifier

portion of the proprietary name such as a letter, number, or word

Dose

Product characteristic evaluated alongside name similarity.

Identified Hazards

Hazards

2
Medication errors

Risk of inappropriate administration of extra doses

Medication error

Risks resulting from misinterpreted abbreviations, poor legibility, or look-alike packaging.

Related CFR Sections (8)

See Also (8)

Best Practices in Developing Proprietary Names for Human Prescription Drug Products; Guidance for Industry: Guidance for Industry | Guideline Explorer | BioRegHub