Obstacles to the universal application of INNs

Anomalies in the international non-proprietary name (INN) nomenclature show that the international harmonisation of nonproprietary drug names has not been achieved. When pharmaceutical companies request a new INN, they try to obtain an INN that serves their interests, and then use it for promotional or anticompetitive purposes. Drug regulatory agencies are not fulfilling their duty to protect existing INNs, particularly with regard to biosimilars (copies of biotechnology-derived drugs), giving rise in particular to anomalous names. The independence of the World Health Organization INN programme must be safeguarded to ensure that the universal terminology it is responsible for developing is applied worldwide.