Naming biologics

The USAN Council has been involved in coining names for various biological products: the insulins, interferons, interleukins, growth hormones, colony-stimulating factors, cytokines, monoclonal antibodies, and coagulation factors. With increasing development of highly purified biological extracts and recombinant materials, the Council has had an increasingly greater role in assigning names and developing nomenclature rules for these agents.