Hana

HRA Pharma is one of the fastest growing global consumer healthcare companies with a range of products including those focused on women’s health.

The company was about to launch a revolutionary contraception into key European markets. Prior to this innovation, women who were looking for the progestogen-only pill could only access these via a prescription, meaning a trip to their GP. HRA’s new product would be a game-changer that would benefit thousands of women.

The pharmaceutical sector is heavily regulated (and rightly so). With the name requiring approval by the regulator, the MHRA, we needed a process that would support with the company’s application, which meant working to strict timescales. The entire naming process included a couple of naming rounds, with relevant availability, testing and linguistic checks.

Following a deep dive into the requirements of the project, our naming team started thinking about suitable naming themes. Of those that emerged, a couple proved fruitful. This included ‘pill’, but those options were difficult to get the relevant clearances and approval. Another theme, based around female names, had the added benefit of complementing another of the company’s successful brands, Ella.

The HRA team chose the name, Hana. It’s simple, memorable, works well with the existing product brand and could be requested discretely in pharmacies.

Hana launched in Summer 2021.