by Amanda Hara
Franklin, Tenn. -Rare diseases affect few people, and many times big pharmaceutical companies don't bother looking for cures or treatments because there won't be much return on their investment, but Rare Disease Therapeutics, a company based in Franklin, is developing drugs, no matter how small the patient population.
In 20 years of business, their products have kept thousands of people alive.
The company developed the first scorpion anti-venom that's approved by the FDA. It's currently working on anti-venom for snakes indigenous to the mid-state, like Copperheads. Brown Recluse bites could also soon be treated using products from Rare Disease Therapeutics.
Rare Disease Therapeutics also develops drugs for other small patient populations such as children who suffer from a rare liver disease.
Company CEO Milton Ellis said, "There's less than 100 patients in the US, these children die by the age of two if they don't get our product of liver failure."
Ellis said his company is doing work that big pharmaceutical companies don't see as lucrative.
He said for him, it's not about making money, it's about helping people.
Ellis said, "I've seen a lot of suffering, and I see that if you can make a difference, it has a huge impact."
Twenty-five years ago, the Federal Government passed a piece of legislation promising millions of dollars in tax incentives and subsidies for companies that discover and develop drugs for patients suffering from rare diseases.
Without that act, millions of patients would likely go without treatment.
ahara@newschannel5.com
