What are the differences between brand names and generic names for molecules developed as medical drugs?

The Brand Names of a drug is given by the company who developed the drug. The brand name is a trademark of the owner company.

The Generic Names of a drug is assigned, in the United States, by the United States Adopted Names (USAN) Council.

For example, Tylenol is a brand name of a drug developed in 1955 by McNeil Laboratories. And Acetaminophen is the generic name for the same drug.

Generic names usually use suffixes to define drug's action classes. Some commonly used suffixes are listed below:

Suffix     Drug Action Class            Examples
---------  ---------------------------  --------------------------------
-vir       aciclovir, oseltamivir       Antiviral drug                                                                   
-cillin    penicillin, carbenicillin    Penicillin-derived antibiotics                                             
-mab       trastuzumab, ipilimumab      Monoclonal antibodies                                                                   
-ximab     infliximab                   Chimeric antibody, with parts of multiple different antibodies                                                    
-zumab     natalizumab, bevacizumab     humanized antibody                                                                     
-anib      Pazopanib, Vandetanib        Angiogenesis inhibitors                                                                    
-ciclib    palbociclib, ribociclib      Cyclin-dependent kinase 4/CDK6 inhibitors                                                         
-degib     Vismodegib, Sonidegib        hedgehog signaling pathway inhibitors                                                                     
-denib     Enasidenib, Ivosidenib       IDH1 and IDH2 inhibitors                                                                     
-lisib     alpelisib, buparlisib        Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitors                                                        
-parib     olaparib, veliparib          PARP inhibitor                                                        
-rafenib   Sorafenib, Vemurafenib       BRAF inhibitors                                                                       
-tinib     erlotinib, crizotinib        Tyrosine-kinase inhibitors                                                                     
-zomib     bortezomib, carfilzomib      proteasome inhibitors                                                                     
-vastatin  atorvastatin                 HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor                                                                      
-prazole   omeprazole                   Proton-pump inhibitor                                                                   
-lukast    zafirlukast, montelukast     Leukotriene receptor antagonists                                                                      
-grel-     clopidogrel, ticagrelor      Platelet aggregation inhibitor                                                                     
-axine     venlafaxine                  Dopamine and serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor                                                                  
-olol      metoprolol, atenolol         Beta-blockers                                                       
-oxetine   duloxetine, reboxetine       Antidepressant related to fluoxetine                                                                       
-sartan    losartan, valsartan          Angiotensin receptor antagonists                                                                      
-pril      captopril, lisinopril        Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor                                                                    
-oxacin    levofloxacin, moxifloxacin   Quinolone-derived antibiotics                                                         
-barb-     Phenobarbital, secobarbital  Barbiturates                                                        
-xaban     apixaban, rivaroxaban        Direct Xa inhibitor                                                        
-afil      sildenafil, tadalafil        Inhibitor of PDE5 with vasodilator action                                                       
-prost-    latanoprost, unoprostone     Prostaglandin analogue                                                         
-ine       atropine, quinine            Alkaloids and organic bases                                                      
-tide      Nesiritide, Octreotide       Peptides and glycopeptides                                                       
-vec       Alipogene tiparvovec         Gene Therapy vectors                                                      
-ast       zafirlukast, seratrodast     Anti-asthmatic                                                      
-caine     benzocaine                   local anesthetic                                                    
-dipine    amlodipine, nifedipine       Calcium channel blocker derived from dihydropyridine                                                         
-tidine    cimetidine, ranitidine       H2 receptor antagonist                                                         
-setron    ondansetron, granisetron     5-HT3 antagonist   

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