Brand-backed US body pushes WHO on names

The World Health Organization (WHO) must act immediately to harmonise naming protocols for biologic medicines so that individual products with the same active ingredient, but from different manufacturers, can be identified, according to the Alliance for Safe Biologic Medicines (ASBM), a US lobbying group that lists Amgen and Genentech among its members.

In a white paper released to coincide with the WHO’s 67th international consultation on non-proprietary names held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 23-26 October, the ASBM argues that “divergent naming practices” among global regulatory bodies “could impede access to, and the safety of, life-saving medicines”