Rare Diseases: Drug Approvals for Rare Diseases Have Increased

There are between 6,000 and 7.000 rare diseases affecting 2.5 million Americans.
Source: Food and Drug Administration, Office of Orphan Product Development, Orphan Drug Designations and Approvals Database, at http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/opdlisting/oopd/index.cfm [Accessed August 2010] (for data from 1983–2010). Food and Drug Administration, “Developing Products for Rare Diseases & Conditions,” http://www.fda.gov/forindustry/DevelopingProductsforrareDiseasesConditio..., [Accessed August 2010] (for data for 1970s).