37% of New Drugs Approved by FDA in 2014 were for Treatment of Rare Diseases

New data from the FDA (here) shows that 2014 was a banner year for orphan drugs, which are drugs that treat "rare" diseases/disorders affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S.

The drug approval data from 1994 through 2014 (to date) are plotted in the following charts:

NME=New Molecular Entity, BLA=Biologic License Application; Source: FDA

Let's dig deeper into the numbers.

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