The pharma product PRADAXA (generic name: dabigatran exetilate) is an anticoagulant from Boehringer Ingelheim. It has received much attention because of the very good treatment results achieved. For people with atrial fibrillation, it is the first competitor to the controversial and complex warfarin. PRADAXA is also is likely to be marketed for stroke prevention, hopefully in the near future. It was approved by EMEA for some indications in March 2008. We were engaged by Boehringer Ingelheim in this project in 2001.
The name is a good example of a purely “invented” name with no known references to the disease, the generic name or any dictionary word, but still distinctive and easily pronounceable in all important languages. Invented names or names with only a highly hidden connotation have been more frequently used as trademarks for pharmaceuticals after the millennium, mainly due to the increased complexity to find names in class 5, but also due to the advanced and complex requirements from regulatory organisations, such as FDA and EMEA.
