Rare diseases collectively affect millions of Americans of all ages, but developing drugs and medical devices to prevent, diagnose, and treat these conditions is challenging. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends implementing an integrated national strategy to promote rare diseases research and product development.

Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs shows that much of what we now know about common diseases has been achieved by studying rare diseases. It proposes that future advances in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of common diseases will come as a consequence of our accelerating progress in the field of rare diseases. Understanding the complex steps in the development of common diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic diseases, has proven a difficult problem. Rare diseases, however, are often caused by aberrations of a single gene. In rare diseases, we may study how specific genetic defects can trigger a series of events that lead to the expression of a particular disease. Often, the disease process manifested in a certain rare disease is strikingly similar to the disease process observed in a common disease. This work ties the lessons learned about rare diseases to our understanding of common ones. Chapters covering the number of common diseases are minimized, while rare diseases are introduced as single diseases or as members of diseases classes. After reading this book, readers will appreciate how further research into the rare diseases may lead to new methods for preventing, diagnosing, and treating all diseases, rare or common. - Makes rare diseases relevant to clinicians and researchers by tying lessons learned about the rare diseases to our understanding of the common diseases - Stresses basic pathologic mechanisms that account for human disease (e.g., disorders of cell development, replication, maintenance, function and structure), that can be understood without prior training in pathology - Discusses advanced concepts in molecular biology and genetics in a simple, functional context appropriate for medical trainees and new researchers - Offers insights into how further research into rare diseases may lead to new methods for preventing, diagnosing, and treating all diseases

This authoritative and comprehensive book makes the reader familiar with the processes of bringing orphan drugs to the global market. There are between 5,000 and 7,000 rare diseases and the number of patients suffering from them is estimated to be more than 50 million in the US and Europe. Before the orphan drug legislation enacted in the US in 1983, there was a limited interest from industry to develop treatment for very small patient groups. One of the difficulties is, of course, that similar levels of investment are needed from a pharmaceutical company to bring a drug to the market for both small and large patient groups.The journey from application of an orphan drug designation to a reimbursed market- approved drug is long and many obstacles occur during the journey.After reading the book, readers will: Understand who the players/stakeholders are in the rare orphan disease field and their specific needs and concerns: patients and patient organizations, researchers and treating physicians within the field, industry, regulatory and reimbursement bodies* Understand the strong partnership between the different players and the various initiatives to improve and increase access to treatment for patients; minimizing the gap between numbers of known diseases, orphan designations, approved drugs and paid drugs.The book also provides short practical case stories from patients and researchers, as well as representatives from industry and authorities on the challenges they came across in developing orphan drugs or getting access to orphan drugs. - A comprehensive overview of strategy, key activities and considerations of how to bring an orphan drug from concept to the market and make it available to patients - A source of updated information, news and trends for those who are already active in this fast-evolving field - Covers the global definitions and the criteria for getting an orphan drug designation in, for example, the US and Europe

This book provides a broad overview of rare disease drug development. It offers unique insights from various perspectives, including third-party capital providers, caregivers, patient advocacy groups, drug development professionals, marketing and commercial experts, and patients. A unique reference, the book begins with narratives on the many challenges faced by rare disease patient and their caregivers. Subsequent chapters underscore the critical, multidimensional role of patient advocacy groups and the novel approaches to related clinical trials, investment decisions, and the optimization of rare disease registries. The book addresses various rare disease drug development processes by disciplines such as oncology, hematology, pediatrics, and gene therapy. Chapters then address the operational aspects of drug development, including approval processes, development accelerations, and market access strategies. The book concludes with reflections on the authors' case for real-world data and evidence generation in orphan medicinal drug development. Rare Disease Drug Development is an expertly written text optimized for biopharmaceutical R&D experts, commercial experts, third-party capital providers, patient advocacy groups, patients, and caregivers.

Orphan drugs are designated drug substances that are intended to treat rare or ‘orphan’ diseases. More than 7000 rare diseases are known that collectively affect some 6-7% of the developed world’s population; however, individually, any single, rare disease may only affect a handful of people making them commercially unattractive for the biopharmaceutical industry to target. Ground breaking legislation, starting with the Orphan Drug Act that was passed in the US in 1983 to provide financial incentives for companies to develop orphan drugs, has sparked ever increasing interest from biopharmaceutical companies to tackle rare diseases. These developments have made rare diseases, and the orphan drugs that treat them, sufficiently attractive to pharmaceutical development and many pharmaceutical companies now have research units dedicated to this area of research. It is therefore timely to review the area of orphan drugs and some of the basic science, drug discovery and regulatory factors that underpin this important, and growing, area of biomedical research. Written by a combination of academic and industry experts working in the field, this text brings together expert authors in the regulatory, drug development, genetics, biochemistry, patient advocacy group, medicinal chemistry and commercial domains to create a unique and timely reference for all biomedical researchers interested in finding out more about orphan drugs and the rare diseases they treat. Providing an up-to-date monograph, this book covers the basic science, drug discovery and regulatory elements behind orphan drugs and will appeal to medicinal and pharmaceutical chemists, biochemists and anyone working within the fields of rare disease research and drug development or pharmaceuticals in industry or academia.

In the United States, a rare disease is defined by the Orphan Drug Act as a disorder or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 persons. For the approval of "orphan" drug products for rare diseases, the traditional approach of power analysis for sample size calculation is not feasible because there are only limited number of subjects available for clinical trials. In this case, innovative approaches are needed for providing substantial evidence meeting the same standards for statistical assurance as drugs used to treat common conditions. Innovative Methods for Rare Disease Drug Development focuses on biostatistical applications in terms of design and analysis in pharmaceutical research and development from both regulatory and scientific (statistical) perspectives. Key Features: Reviews critical issues (e.g., endpoint/margin selection, sample size requirements, and complex innovative design). Provides better understanding of statistical concepts and methods which may be used in regulatory review and approval. Clarifies controversial statistical issues in regulatory review and approval accurately and reliably. Makes recommendations to evaluate rare diseases regulatory submissions. Proposes innovative study designs and statistical methods for rare diseases drug development, including n-of-1 trial design, adaptive trial design, and master protocols like platform trials. Provides insight regarding current regulatory guidance on rare diseases drug development like gene therapy.

The fields of rare diseases research and orphan products development continue to expand with more products in research and development status. In recent years, the role of the patient advocacy groups has evolved into a research partner with the academic research community and the bio-pharmaceutical industry. Unique approaches to research and development require epidemiological data not previously available to assist in protocol study design and patient recruitment for clinical trials required by regulatory agencies prior to approval for access by patents and practicing physicians.