What’s in a (drug) name?
It’s been a few weeks since FiercePharmaMarketing’s 2015 Drug Name Tournament came to a close. Now they’ve interviewed the winner, BioMarin‘s Vimizim and asked where the name came from and what made it so successful.
Jill Jepson, executive marketing director at BioMarin, said the drug-naming process starts about three years before approval. The process involves researching, brainstorming, submitting to regulatory authorities and health agencies, trademarking and so on. In the end, there will only be a few names left standing. Jepson explains that pharma companies don’t really like having odd names, but the options are limited.
BioMarin did wind up with a few options, though–including Vimizyme, Condrozyme, and Zymoquizyme. To narrow it down, the company held a survey, had employees rank the names, and share their opinions. Employees liked Vimizim because it embodied “vim and vigor,” and that “‘V’ is for ‘victory.'” And that was just what the company wanted and what they knew their patients would relate to.
