All marketed drugs have an internationally approved name for the compound (drug substance), as distinct from the trade name. The system of naming employs a common “stem” for each member of a class of compounds sharing the same mechanism of action. “Triptan” (as in frovatriptan) is the stem adopted for drugs that act on 5-HT1 receptors and which share a similar mechanism of action in relieving migraine attacks.

Triptans are a family of tryptamine drugs used as abortive medication in the treatment of migraine and cluster headaches. They were first introduced in the 1990s. While effective at treating individual headaches, they are neither a preventative nor a cure.