I think it also has to do with trademark, language, and cultural issues. No one wants to risk using a name that has already been used by another company. To use a name already used may put a company at risk for a lawsuit on trademark infringement. A good example is Verizon, a completely made-up but meaningless name. There are many other odd, newly invented names - Advil, Tylenol, Aleve, Corolla, Camry, Expedex, Kleenex, Tiguan, Lenovo, Google, to name a few. There is also a trend to use letters and numbers such as Ford F-150, F-250, Mercedes E-Class E350, Audi Q3, A5, etc.

Also, no company that sells products internationally wants to inadvertently use a name that sends the wrong message or offends non-English speakers in some way. A word that is innocuous in English may have an entirely different meaning in another language.

For example, the Chevy Nova was a pretty good car in its day. However, in Spanish, No va means no go or not going. Maybe not a good name for something built for reliable transportation.

For drugs that will be promoted to the general public, the name should also flow from the tongue easily, especially those advertised on TV with a catchy tune or catchphrase. A few minutes of TV watching and you should see several of these.