International Nonproprietary Names (INN)
International Nonproprietary Names (INN) facilitate the identification of pharmaceutical substances or active pharmaceutical ingredients. Each INN is a unique name that is globally recognized and is public property. A nonproprietary name is also known as a generic name.
Mandate
WHO has a constitutional mandate to"develop, establish and promote international standards with respect to biological, pharmaceutical and similar products".
The World Health Organization collaborates closely with INN experts and national nomenclature committees to select a single name of worldwide acceptability for each active substance that is to be marketed as a pharmaceutical. To avoid confusion, which could jeopardize the safety of patients, trade-marks should neither be derived from INNs nor contain common stems used in INNs.The selection and publication of INNs falls under the responsibility of the EMP/RHT/TSN team of the INN Programme.
Guidance on INN
Nonproprietary names are intended for use in pharmacopoeias, labelling, product information, advertising and other promotional material, drug regulation and scientific literature, and as a basis for product names, e.g. for generics. Their use is normally required by national or, as in the case of the European Community, by international legislation. As a result of ongoing collaboration, national names such as British Approved Names (BAN), Dénominations Communes Françaises (DCF), Japanese Adopted Names (JAN) and United States Adopted Names (USAN) are nowadays, with rare exceptions, identical to the INN.
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Dr R. Balocco Mattavelli World Health Organization |
innprogramme@who.int |
Events
Online access to INN data
WHO Drug Information
Publications
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12 May 2025
Pre-stems: Suffixes used in the selection of INN - May 2025The step before the adoption of an INN stem by the INN Expert Group is to publish them as a pre-stem in order to collect possible issues.
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12 May 2025
INN Stem Book Addendum 202503-2025The document "Use of stems in the selection of International Nonproprietary Names (INN) for pharmaceutical substances" is intended primarily for persons...
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2 May 2022
New INN monoclonal antibody (mAb) nomenclature scheme (May 2022)-tugfor “unmodified immunoglobulins”The suffix-tugis used for monospecific full-length immunoglobulins with unmodified constant...
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Last INN Consultation Executive Summary
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14 January 2025
INN 79th Executive SummaryDuring the 79th INN Consultation, 281 INN requests were discussed, including:• 249 new INN requests, of which 155 were for biological substances•...
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22 May 2024
INN 78th Executive SummaryDuring the 78th INN Consultation, 288 INN requests were discussed, including:• 261 new INN requests, comprising: o 129 chemical substances...
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18 January 2024
INN 77th Executive SummaryDuring the 77th INN Consultation, 252 INN requests were discussed, including:• 217 new INN requests, of which 146 were for biological substances•...
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Last INN Recommended Lists
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15 April 2025
INN Recommended List 93Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with article 3 of the Procedure for the Selection ofRecommended International Nonproprietary Names for Pharmaceutical...
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17 November 2024
INN Recommended List 92Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with article 3 of the Procedure for the Selection ofRecommended International Nonproprietary Names for Pharmaceutical...
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25 March 2024
INN Recommended List 91Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with article 3 of the Procedure for the Selection ofRecommended International Nonproprietary Names for Pharmaceutical...
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Last INN Proposed Lists
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13 February 2025
INN Proposed List 132Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with article 3 of the Procedure for the Selection of Recommended International Nonproprietary Names for Pharmaceutical...
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11 August 2024
INN Proposed List 131Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with article 3 of the Procedure for the Selection of Recommended International Nonproprietary Names for Pharmaceutical...
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29 February 2024
INN Proposed List 130Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with article 3 of the Procedure for the Selection of Recommended International Nonproprietary Names for Pharmaceutical...
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