I was once told by my chemistry lecturer that the key to naming new drugs was for it to be easy enough for the public to say and understand, yet complex enough for the doctors to not feel left out. This is of course referring to their commercial names, not scientific names.

I feel the same goes for start-up company names. I would love to know how much time people spend thinking them up. They have to be short, zingy and most important of all: PSEUDO-SCIENTIFIC!!!

Some common terms:

-cel (diagnostics / life science companies)

-bio (for life science / biotech)

-pharma

-med (for medical device companies)

If you can squeeze two into your company name your chances of success are immediately doubled.

Mix these pre/suffixes with terms like vista- (Life) vas- (the cardiac system), tek-, tech- (it’s cutting edge!) or similar. If you want to absolutely guarantee success, follow the rules above and it will result in stock market floatation and a huge pay-off for founding company directors within 5 years*

Disclaimer: we are aware of the irony of our own company name!

*not a guarantee

-Brian (bhc at lifescience.ie)