Top Orphan Drugs Approved in 2008

A rare disease occurs in less than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or less than 5 per 10,000 individuals in the European Union. Specialty drugs to treat rare diseases are known as "orphan drugs" because they treat such small numbers of people. In 2008 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved several noteworthy orphan drugs, including some that are the first to treat a rare condition.