Posted by Michael Wonder on 25 Sep 2018
Patients call for end to CF drug price row at key meeting
25 September 2018 - Representatives of NHS England and cystic fibrosis drug company Vertex are to meet on Thursday to try and resolve a two-year impasse over access to life-changing medications.
Charities and patients called for a resolution to the ongoing pricing row, which began two years ago when NICE said Vertex’s combination therapy Orkambi (lumacaftor with ivacaftor) is too expensive for the NHS.
Orkambi is the first medicine to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis in people with two copies of the F508del mutation, aged six or over, and Vertex has other drugs in its pipeline that will mean a wider group of patients will get treated.
