Number of cumulative orphan designations accepted in the U.S. 2003-2018
This statistic displays the cumulative number of accepted orphan designations in the United States from 2003 to 2018. As of 2018, there were 4,735 orphan designations accepted in the country in total. Orphan drugs are used to target rare diseases or disorders, which in the United States is defined as less than 200,000 patients. The development of orphan drugs are currently incentivized in the United States through the Orphan Drug Act of 1983.
