what is an orphan drug
An orphan drug is a pharmaceutical agent that has been developed specifically to treat a rare medical condition, the condition itself being referred to as an orphan disease.n average the cost per patient for orphan drugs is six times that of non-orphan drugs, a clear indication of their pricing power.. Partly as a result of the 1983 US Orphan Drug Act, Japan adopted it in 1993 as did the European Union in 2000.