What is an Orphan Disease?
According to figures published by the NIH there are more than 6,000 orphan or rare Diseases affecting patient populations in the world today, but with only 248 orphan medicinal products approved for use in the US, and considerably fewer in the European Union (the EU), and the rest of the world. Therefore the clinical need for Orphan drugs remains very high.

In Europe, an orphan Disease is one that affects 5 people in 10,000, while in the US it is defined as a Disease affecting less that 200,000 people in total (equivalent to an incidence of 7.5 per 10,000) or a Disease affecting more than 200,000 for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making a drug available in the US will be recovered from market sales.

Siena Biotech's Commitment to Rare Diseases
In line with our Mission, stating that: " Siena Biotech is a drug discovery company, whose people are fully committed to understanding and unravelling CNS Diseases, including rare Diseases, ... " our company has a strong commitment to research in the rare Diseases area.

Maintaining focus on CNS disorders, our company has started research programs on Huntington's Disease, Brain Tumors, is evaluating Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and is looking for further scientific collaborations with public and private institutions at both national and international level in this area.