INTERNATIONAL NONPROPRIETARY NAME

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.
'INN's 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.

Contents

Example

See also

External links

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

★ World Health Organization

★ IUPAC nomenclature

External links

★ INN information from the WHO

★ INN stems and modifiers from the WHO (PDF)