BIOTECH FIRMS CHASE 'ORPHAN' DRUGS

More drug companies are embracing the challenge of creating therapies for rare diseases, despite the small potential markets for those drugs. Last week, for example, Genzyme, a company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell an intravenous drug to treat a rare neuromuscular disease that afflicts no more than 10,000 worldwide.

International Herald Tribune (http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/01/business/drug.php)