As a result, the U.S. government offers special monopolies for drugs that treat orphan diseases.
However, developing successful drugs for orphan diseases is not, of course, a slam dunk.
All told, orphan diseases afflict about 25 million people in the United States.
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MSPs then considered current petitions including ones on school bus safety, the adverse impact of coastguard station closures and access to therapy for orphan diseases.
Until 2002, Biogen had the MS market to itself because of a law that grants a temporary monopoly to medicines for rare ailments, known in biotech as orphan diseases.
Biomarin (nasdaq: BMRN - news - people ) and Alexion (nasdaq: ALXN - news - people ) have launched drugs for orphan diseases.
Biomarin and Alexion have launched drugs for orphan diseases.
Moreover, drugs for such "orphan" diseases can be priced at tens of thousands of dollars a year or more--a fact that has been proven again and again by biotechs like Genzyme that focus on rare diseases.
Moreover, drugs for such "orphan" diseases can be priced at tens of thousands of dollars a year or more--a fact that has been proven again and again by biotechs like Genzyme (nasdaq: GENZ - news - people ) that focus on rare diseases.
But while the Orphan Drug Act increased the amount of research into rare diseases, the field is still vastly underfunded.
In recent months, a growing number of so-called orphan drugs, which are used to treat so-called rare diseases that afflict small patient populations, have won FDA approval.
Thirty years ago, the Orphan Drug Act provided financial incentives to pharmaceutical companies to develop treatments for rare diseases -- diseases that afflict fewer than 200, 000 people.
Analysts have interpreted that as giving Genzyme's treatment, Fabryzyme, the inside track toward getting a six-year term of exclusivity under orphan drug laws, which is meant to encourage companies to develop treatments for rare diseases.
The Orphan Drug Act was passed only because of the support of the National Organization of Rare Diseases.
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New orphan drugs are just one of the reasons that individuals with hard-to-treat diseases have reason to hope.
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