Science and money are behind which diseases get prioritized for drug development

Of the more than 7,000 known rare diseases, defined as fewer than 200,000 people affected in the U.S., only 34 had a therapy approved by the Food and Drug Administration before 1983. The passage of the Orphan Drug Act changed this trend by offering tax credits, research incentives, and prolonged patent lives for companies actively developing drugs for rare diseases. From 1983 to 2019, 724 drugs were approved for rare diseases.

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