They’re not the orphans we typically think of — such as the plucky kids from “Annie” singing about the sun coming out tomorrow. Nope, these are orphan drugs.
Locally, a few companies are pursuing orphan drugs, which is the term used for drugs aimed at relatively rare diseases. Because these drugs don’t typically create blockbuster profits, companies can receive federal research funds and special protection against generic competitors for them. The status also can speed up the drug’s approval in some cases.
Seattle Genetics of Bothell has been granted orphan drug status for SGN-30, its experimental Hodgkin’s disease treatment, and for SGN-40, a leukemia treatment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also has given an orphan drug designation to Sonus Pharmaceuticals’ Tocosol paclitaxel for the treatment of a specific form of bladder cancer.
Here’s a Boston Globe story about how other companies are discovering that orphan drugs can be a good bet to follow: http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/05/01/83_law_called_big_boost_for_rare_disease_drugs/ or http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/01/business/drug.php. Here’s another take on the subject by The Washington Post: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060430/NEWS06/604300513/1083/LIVING01.
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