Drugmakers and brand or marketing experts have several linguistic tools they use to design a brand name for a drug.
Compounds come out of the lab with a long chemical name that is often unpronounceable to the average person. A drug also has a generic compound name that can be long and dull.
The brand name helps companies sell a drug and gives the product a unique identity.
"It can't be too intimidating in the look, the feel, the tone and the meaning itself to patients," said Brand Institute chief executive James Dettore.
Guidelines brand experts follow:
• Keep it to three or four syllables or about nine letters.
• Avoid making a claim or promise about what the drug does.
• But try to shed some insight: Lipitor, for instance, involves lipid regulation.
• Some letters convey effectiveness: p, t, k
• For a calm, relaxing feel: l, r or s
• To convey speed: z
• For a scientific image: x
• Watch the prefixes: "Sc" brings to mind "scuzzy"; "Pu" connotes "putrid."