The International Nonproprietary Names (INN) Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a nomenclature to standardize the names of monoclonal antibodies.
Elements of the name:
(1) prefix - specific to the particular product
(2) substem A - indicates the target
(3) substem B - indicates species that is the source for the immunoglobulin
(3) suffix - indicates type of monoclonal antibody (mab or nab)
Substem A |
Target Class |
b or ba |
bacterial |
c or ci |
cardiovascular |
f or fu |
fungal |
l or li |
immunomodulatory |
s or so |
bone |
t or tu |
tumor |
tox or toxa |
toxin |
v or vi |
viral |
Substem B |
Type of Monoclonal Antibody |
a |
rat |
e |
hamster |
i |
primate |
o |
murine |
u |
fully human |
xi |
chimeric |
xizu |
chimeric and humanized |
zu |
humanized |
Specialty: Pharmacology, clinical
ICD-10: ,