British Approved Name

A British Approved Name (BAN) is the official non-proprietary or generic name given to a British Pharmacopoeia (BP). The BAN is also the official name used in many countries across the world, especially those of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Combination preparations

BANs are unique, perhaps, in that names are assigned for combination preparations as well as single-drug preparations. For example the BAN clavulanic acid. Most other pharmacopoeias simply refer to combination products by both ingredients in the preparation, in this example "amoxicillin with clavulanic acid".

The prefix of "co-" is used for many combination drugs, including opioid with paracetamol or aspirin Co-amilozide), gastrointestinal drugs (eg Co-danthrusate) and anti-Parkinsonism agents such as Co-careldopa, Co-dergocrine, and others (eg Co-cyprindiol).

BAN Harmonisation

Recent European Union legislation, requiring harmonisation of the BP with the adrenaline/epinephrine, BANs are now the same as the INNs.

This has resulted in an interesting situation in countries such as Australia. While the British Pharmacopoeia and BANs are the official pharmacopoeia/names defined by legislation in these countries, the former-BANs continue to be used, purportedly because of the difficulty of changeover. The importance of the BP, however, means that these countries are likely to eventually adopt the INNs.