Novartis (NYSE: NVS) has come up with some of the best names for its drugs.

First there was Afinitor, the Swiss company's kidney cancer treatment for patients who have failed treatments of Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) Sutent or Bayer and Onyx Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: ONXX) Nexavar. Afinitor. It just sounds like a cancer-killing machine.

Now Afinitor has little brother Zortress, which the Food and Drug Administration approved yesterday. It's actually the same drug, but used at a different dose to help keep kidney transplant patients from rejecting their transplants.

Zortress is used in combination with other drugs to keep the patient's immune system from attacking the transplanted kidney. It makes it possible to use less of a generic drug called cyclosporine, which thus reduces cyclosporine-related side effects.

The drug has been used in kidney and heart transplantation outside the U.S. for many years under the brand name Certican. Apparently the marketing department decided it needed a jazzed-up name when it made its U.S. debut.

Next up for transplant drugs is Bristol-Myers Squibb's (NYSE: BMY) belatacept, which is awaiting FDA approval. Don't expect it to get much press coverage, though, even if Bristol-Myers comes up with an awesome name. The drug's PDUFA date is May 1, the same day as Dendreon's (Nasdaq: DNDN) Provenge, which will likely steal the show.

It's clear that drugmakers put a lot of thought into the names of their drugs. Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) Risperdal Consta is a clear reminder to doctors that the extended-release version of Risperdal is constantly helping patients. Of course the name doesn't always work. Eli Lilly's (NYSE: LLY) blood thinner Effient is a play on the word efficient, but it hasn't been very efficient in the sales department yet, bringing in just $8.8 million last quarter.

We'll just have to wait and see whether Zortress can be a fortress for Novartis' revenue.