"Traditional" vaccines, most often developed from inactivated, or so-called live-attenuated infectious agents, are not given an international non-proprietary name (INN) because they comprise numerous constituents. The World Health Organization (WHO) has assigned an INN to vaccines based on mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) technology because they only contain a single, chemically well-defined agent (an mRNA). This INN ends in the common stem -meran (1,2). As of 2 March 2021, one covid-19 vaccine whose INN contains this common stem was marketed in the European Union: tozinameran. The request for an INN for Covid-19 vaccine mRNA-1273 marketed by the company Moderna is underway. In a context in which several covid-19 vaccines coexist on the market, the attribution of an INN contributes to identification of the vaccine and hence to safer prescribing, and is particularly helpful when several injections are given at planned intervals.The INN also facilitates pharmacovigilance monitoring, by ensuring correct identification of the vaccine being administered (1). The common stem -meran must be distinguished from the common stem -siran which characterises the INN of so-called interfering RNAs (3). As of 2 March 2021, two drugs marketed in France contain this common stem: patisiran authorised for use in transthyretin amyloidosis-related polyneuropathy, and givosiran authorised for acute hepatic porphyria.
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