ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Pharmacology arguably provides the most fundamental descriptor of a drug-classification of the mechanism of action of the chemical substance-and in the context of medicinal products, this relates to how the therapeutic action arises. Not only are drug formularies ordered by similarity of pharmacological action, but the names given to drugs are also designed to reflect similarity of pharmacological action. For example, any drug ending in -olol will be a member of the class of beta-adrenoceptor antagonists (e.g., atenolol, propranolol) and any drug ending in -mab will be a monoclonal antibody (e.g., rituximab). The system for International Nonproprietary Names for pharmaceutical compounds is overseen by the World Health Organization and further details can be found at https://www.who.int/medicines/services/inn/en.
