[dianaiad]

Drugs with names ending in 'mab'

by dianaiad on Fri Apr 27, 2018 9:13 pm

Does someone out there know why these drugs are named what they are, and why so very many of them end in 'mab'?

Yes. It's a dumb question. Just one of those curious itches.

[Ian]

Re: Drugs with names ending in 'mab'

by Ian on Fri Apr 27, 2018 9:49 pm

Hi Diana,

The "mab" at the end of some generic drug names stands for "monoclonal antibody". So all drugs that have "mab" at the end of their generic name are, in fact, monoclonal antibodies.

The rationale for the parts of the name that come before "mab" is not as easy to explain. Sometimes that part of the generic name is selected arbitrarily, reflecting the whims of the drug developers, and sometimes the selection follows certain rules. This article, which is not at all technical, goes into more details:

https://www.ashclinicalnews.org/perspectives/whats-drug-name/

Cheers!

[dianaiad]

Re: Drugs with names ending in 'mab'

by dianaiad on Sat Apr 28, 2018 10:06 am

Thanks!

I think.

It was an interesting read, that article, and now that particular itch doesn't need scratching any more. I really appreciate that one can come here and get answers to even dumb questions!