News > How Do Drugs Like Remdesivir and Tocilizumab Get Their Names?

How Do Drugs Like Remdesivir and Tocilizumab Get Their Names?

Any marketed drug has three names. The chemical name is the first and most complex name assigned to a drug, and is based on its molecular structure.

Second, a generic or non-proprietary name is usually a shorthand version of the drug’s structure or mechanism of action. Third, the brand, or proprietary, name is the more pronounceable of all.