Press Release: Fighting rare diseases: 22 new orphan drugs in five years

A report published on 26 June 2006 showed that the EU policy for orphan drugs - products intended for treatment of rare and life-threatening or very serious diseases - was working. In the period between April 2000 and April 2005, the European Commission's incentive programme had triggered more than 450 applications for orphan designation. The first 22 new orphan medicines for the treatment of 20 different life-threatening or chronically debilitating rare diseases had already received a marketing authorisation (see list in annex).