Repurposing & collaborative drug development for rare diseases.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 January 2014
• Author: Muthyala, Ramaiah

The label "rare/orphan disease" refers to diseases that affect a small number of people compared to common diseases. In this category, more than 7,000 diseases have been identified so far. 80% of them are of genetic origin and often affect children. A small fraction of these diseases have treatments, but often are very expensive. Due to rapid population migration in the last 3-5 decades, the genetic diseases are no longer confined to any one geographic location, just as infectious diseases such as malaria, TB, etc., are restricted to developing nations and are...