Availability of orphan medicines varies between European countries

There are differences in the availability of orphan medicines between different European countries, a new study from the University of Eastern Finland shows. Orphan medicines are pharmaceutical products developed specifically for the treatment, prevention or diagnostics of rare diseases. Rare diseases are life-threatening or permanently disabling medical conditions, and they affect some 30 million people in Europe and more than 300,000 people in Finland alone. People suffering from a rare disease do not always have access to the medicines they need. Factors limiting the availability of