International Nonproprietary Names of COVID-19 vaccines
05/05/2021
International Nonproprietary Names (INN) apply to vaccines with well-defined active ingredients, such as mRNA, DNA, viral vectors, and recombinant proteins. Some mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines already have designated INNs, including abdavomeran, ganulameran, tozinameran, and zorecimeran. In each case the descriptions can be found at:
https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/inn-pl-124-covid
With regard to possible modifications to current COVID-19 vaccines, aimed at providing better protection against new SARS-CoV-2 virus variants of concern, WHO indicated that the designation of a new INN may be required, if the modifications lead to changes in the structure of the active ingredient. The report can be found in the document “International Nonproprietary Names for Variant COVID-19 Vaccine Active Substances.” The INN of the variant active substance will be linked to the INN of the initial vaccine when it has an assigned INN, by adding a short, random, two- or three-letter syllable as a prefix to the original INN.
In the event of a change in the structure of the active substance, or for other reasons, such as improved antigen stability, it will be assigned a new, unique, alternative INN, not necessarily related to the previous INN, in cases where one already exists.
Sources:
https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/inn-pl-124-covid