Posted by Michael Wonder on 02 Aug 2020
Access for Aotearoa - campaigning for access to modern medications for Kiwis with cystic fibrosis
3 August 2020 - It took eight years for New Zealanders living with CF to access the first of four cutting-edge medications, called Kalydeco, from Vertex Pharmaceuticals. These medications effectively ‘switch off’ the genetic condition by temporarily correcting the effects of the faulty gene.
A combination of high price tags for the CF medicines, of which Vertex leads the market, and Pharmac’s conservative investment model, has meant that Kiwis with CF are disadvantaged with a very real and observable human cost.
Trikafta is the latest of these precision medications, also known as CFTR modulators, and received FDA approval in late 2019. It is available in the US, and in recent weeks England, Wales and Northern Ireland secured a deal with Vertex for Trikafta, in anticipation of its approval in Europe.
