The fact is that while a disease might be labeled as “rare”, the number of persons in Europe suffering from a rare disease is estimated at over 30 million. Rare diseases do not only affect those diagnosed, but their families, friends, care takers and society as a whole. While one rare disease may affect as few as 1 in 50,000 people, rare disease patients collectively comprise 6 to 8 % of the EU population. These statistics do not seem as comforting.