Why AI and blockchain are the solutions to developing orphan drug - Pharmaphorum

We are in the midst of a significant shift in pharmaceutical drug development, with many leading companies focusing increasingly on orphan drugs targeted at small niche markets. An orphan disease is a medical condition or disorder that affects less than 200,000 people in the US. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has classified as many as 7,000 medical conditions as orphan diseases. Although a rare disease affects only a small population, the collective number of rare diseases affects as many as 25 million people. This mammoth-sized number of people requiring niche drugs is a serious public health concern.