With 2020 worldwide sales forecast at $178 billion, the orphan drug market is expected to grow by 11.7% per year (CAGR 2015 to 2020), nearly doubling the yearly growth of the overall prescription market.
Moreover, worldwide orphan drug sales will account for 20.2% of worldwide prescription sales by 2020 (excluding generics) according to the EvaluatePharma Orphan Drug Report 2015.
Median cost per patient is 13.8 times higher for orphan drugs compared to non-orphan.
Worldwide orphan drug sales are forecast to total $178bn (CAGR 2015 to 2020: +11.7%); nearly double the overall prescription market growth.
Celgene overtakes Novartis and climbs to the number one position in orphan drug sales by 2020 thanks to top selling Revlimid.
Phase III orphan drug development costs are half that of non-orphan but Phase III drug development is no quicker for orphan than non-orphan drugs.
Return on investment of Phase III/ filed orphan drugs is 1.14 times greater than the ROI for non-orphan drugs.
2014 was a record year for orphan drug designations with the FDA awarding 291, Europe awarding 201 and Japan awarding 32 designations.
Opdivo ranks as the most promising new orphan drug approved in the US in 2014 while Obeticholic Acid (Intercept Pharmaceuticals) ranks as the most valuable R&D product.
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