Nearly 10% of US pharma spending goes to orphan drugs, report finds

A new report from industry analyst the IQVIA Institute finds that, with a record-breaking number of new approvals, orphan drugs accounted for 9.6% of total sales in the USA last year.

The study, which was commissioned by the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) found that the US regulator approved 80 orphan indications last year.

The report claims that orphan drugs have not been a major driver of drug pricing, citing the fact that of the top ten rare disease therapies used by the greatest number of patients, the median price was less than $10,000 per year.