In the News – Confusing Pharmaceutical Brand Names

Snippet from the article:

What would Don Draper make of Xalkori? Pfizer’s lung cancer drug, released in 2011, has a name that would make an old-school ad wizard scratch his Brylcreemed head.

It begins with one of the least commonly used letters of the alphabet. It’s impossible, at first glance, to know how to pronounce it correctly. It looks like it could be the name of one of the creatures from the Star Wars cantina.

In any other industry, calling your product Xalkori would be the business blunder of the century. But this isn’t any other industry; this is pharma.

“Xalkori is not just a crazy name,” says R. John Fidelino, who, as director of creative at the firm InterbrandHealth, helped bring the word into existence.

Read the rest — New drug names aren’t just bizarre—they’re dangerous.