Orphan drugs accounted for only 7.9% of total drug sales in the United States in 2016, according to a new study conducted by the QuintilesIMS Institute. The study, commissioned by NORD, was released at the recent NORD Rare Diseases and Orphan Products Annual Summit in Washington DC.
The study analyzed the role of the Orphan Drug Act , orphan drug usage, and costs. Key findings included that:
- Of the $46 billion spent on pharmaceutical drugs in the US in 2016, only 7.9% was for orphan drugs.
- The orphan drug share of the total volume of pharmaceutical use in the US in 2016 was just 0.3%, down from a peak of 0.6% in 2003.
Findings also suggested that the Orphan Drug Act remains as important today as it was in 1983, when it was enacted. Read the QuintilesIMS report and a corresponding NORD document providing additional analysis.