Posted by Michael Wonder on 27 Mar 2019
600 years’ supply of cystic fibrosis drug destroyed in price row
27 March 2019 - Nearly 8,000 packs of Orkambi, the breakthrough medicine for cystic fibrosis, have been destroyed by the manufacturer while it has been in a stand-off with the NHS over the high price it wants to charge for the drug.
The US company Vertex has distributed 80,000 packs of Orkambi around Europe from its base in the UK since the drug was licensed in 2015. Other European countries with smaller numbers of people affected by the genetic disease have agreed to a high price, sometimes in order to give access to patients before negotiating downwards.
While Orkambi is not a cure, it treats the underlying causes of the disease in those with a specific form of the condition for the first time, stopping its progression.
