Monoclonal antibodies represent the largest group of active substances within biomedicines. They now include a wide variety of structures and molecular sizes – from small fragments to complete immunoglobulins and multispecific fusion proteins.
Within the framework of the INN (international nonproprietary name) programme of the World Health Organization (WHO), the first scheme for the designation of monoclonal antibodies as pharmaceutical active substances with the stem -mab (e.g. infliximab) was introduced in 1991. The enormous number of monoclonal antibodies developed in recent years and their increasing structural complexity forced the WHO expert group to undertake a fundamental revision of the nomenclature. The new nomenclature was put into effect by the WHO in October 2021.
The article "Farewell to "-mab" – New International Nonproprietary Names (INN) for Monoclonal Antibodies" (German only) explains it in detail.
Updated: 15.07.2022
