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Rare diseases have been an increasing area of focus as three waves have converged in recent years: genomic research and innovations becoming mainstream; the forthcoming regulatory policies and financial incentives put in place by the federal agencies; and the increasingly patient-centric and coordinated efforts of patient advocacy groups, caregivers, and centers of excellence (COEs).

This research service provides an overview of the orphan drugs market dynamics, estimating the market size broken down by different segments. It also dives deeper into the different technological, geographical, and therapeutic opportunities with an objective assessment of the disclosed pipelines. Notably, the study has an expanded coverage of not only rare diseases, but also hard-to-cure and “commercially non-viable” diseases.

The orphan drugs market has been characterized by severe unmet needs with therapies available for less than 8% of the identified diseases, creating an abundant opportunity for established and new companies alike to not only enter the market but also establish absolute dominance. However, this will require companies to navigate through R&D, clinical trial, small-volume manufacturing, and reimbursement/pricing challenges as there is a measurable departure from traditional pharma rules.