Orphan drugs to make up one fifth of global Rx drug sales by 2030

18 March 2025

Pharma market insights provider Evaluate today released its 2025 Orphan Drug Report highlighting forecasts for the orphan drug market out to 2030.

The 2025 report, based on Evaluate Pharma forecasts, projects that orphan drugs will make up a fifth of the forecasted $1.6 trillion in worldwide prescription drug sales by 2030. The segment will continue to outpace the wider pharmaceutical market for the next few years but its growth advantage over non-orphans is narrowing and is forecast to be just 1% by the end of the decade.

The report highlights that the regulatory and exclusivity advantages designed to support development of drugs for rare diseases means that many orphan drugs now resemble mainstream pharmaceutical blockbusters. These mega-orphans have caused the lines between niche and non-orphan drugs to blur, and the lifecycle management techniques used by leading pharmaceutical companies are becoming increasingly evident.

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