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Vertex Confirms Northern Ireland Offer Accepted for Cystic Fibrosis Medicines
-Eligible patients in Northern Ireland will soon have access to ORKAMBI® (lumacaftor/ivacaftor) and SYMKEVI® (tezacaftor/ivacaftor), expanded access to
About this update from Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
[{"type":"text","content":"\n-Eligible patients in Northern Ireland will soon have access to ORKAMBI® (lumacaftor/ivacaftor) and SYMKEVI® (tezacaftor/ivacaftor), expanded access to KALYDECO® (ivacaftor) under same terms as NHS England agreement- \n\n LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nVertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today confirms that the Regional Pharmaceutical Procurement Service in Northern Ireland has accepted an offer for access to all currently licensed Vertex cystic fibrosis (CF) medicines and any future indications of these medicines under the same terms as the recently announced agreement with NHS England.\n\n\nThis means that once the contract is finalized, patients with CF in Northern Ireland ages 2 years and older who have two copies of the F508del mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene will have access to ORKAMBI® (lumacaftor/ivacaftor) and CF patients ages 12 years and older who either have two copies of the F508del mutation or one copy of the F508del mutation and a copy of one of the other 14 licensed mutations will have access to SYMKEVI® (tezacaftor/ivacaftor) in combination with ivacaftor. We will support the arrangements being put in place to ensure clinicians will be able to prescribe to eligible patients within the next few weeks.\n\n\nThe agreement also offers expanded access to KALYDECO® (ivacaftor) to include people ages 18 years and older who have the R117H mutation and those patients ages 12 months and older who have one of the nine licensed gating mutations.\n\n\n“We are pleased that the nearly 280 eligible cystic fibrosis patients in Northern Ireland will soon have access to CFTR modulators to treat the underlying cause of their disease and we thank the authorities in Northern Ireland for their collaboration and commitment in this agreement,” said Ludovic Fenaux, Senior Vice President, Vertex International.\n\n\nAbout CF in the UK\nOver 10,000 people in the UK have CF — the second highest number in the world. Nearly 480 people in Northern Ireland have CF. CF is a debilitating, life-shortening inherited condition that causes progressive damage to organs across the body from birth. Currently, there is no cure for CF and half of people in the UK with CF die before they are 32. The daily impact of treatment is significant. It can take up to four or more hours, involving nebulizer...