The Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC), in collaboration with the Institute for Training and Research Marqués de Valdecilla, has obtained the designation of raloxifene (a drug used for osteoporosis during menopause) as an orphan drug.

Raloxifene can be used for the treatment of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), a rare disease characterized by a profusion of nosebleeds that increases with age. It is the first time that a public Spanish institution achieved the designation of an orphan drug, those intended to treat rare diseases - affecting fewer than five people per 10,000. The next step is to find pharmaceutical companies interested in the successive stages of drug development.