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

Combination preparations

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

BAN Harmonisation

Recent European Union legislation, requiring harmonisation of the BP with the European Pharmacopoeia (EP), as well as the adoption of International Nonproprietary Names across the EU has meant that, with the notable exception of adrenaline/epinephrine, BANs are now the same as the INNs.

This has resulted in the interesting situation in many countries, Australia for example, where former BANs continue to be used. While the British Pharmacopoeia and BANs are the official pharmacopoeia/names as defined by legislation in these countries, the former-BANs continue to be used, in contradiction to the legislation, purportedly because of the difficulty of changeover. Inevitably, however, the importance of the BP means that INNs will likely eventually be adopted in these countries also.