Breaking down the name “ #bamlanivimab”
Working backwards, we break down the name into “stem”, “source sub-stem” and “target sub-stem”. 1/x

Any therapy ending with “-mab” is a monoclonal antibody - antibodies produced by the same plasma cell (your body’s factory for antibodies). So this medication is a monoclonal antibody.

Next, we look at the target sub-stem, which in #bamlanivimab, is “-vi-“. This represents the target that the antibody is supposed to attack - in the case of #covid19, a virus - so we see “-vi-“ preceding mab. “-vimab” is a monoclonal antibody that will target a virus.

Next up, the source sub-stem, which in #bamlanivimab is simply the letter “i”. The source sub-stem reflects what animal (mouse, human, primate, etc) the antibodies are taken from. The sub-stem “-i-“ reflects antibodies derived from primates, our closest evolutionary relatives.

So, now we have “-ivimab”, a monoclonal antibody that will attack a virus (in this case, #COVID19) obtained from primates. So what about the prefix in the name, “ #bamlanivimab”? There is no scientific basis for the prefix of named antibody therapies. So, “Bamlan” is made up!

And there you have it, that’s how #bamlanivimab got it’s name! Thank you for coming to my TED talk #wearamask  6/6