Gillian Keegan MP Joins Cross-Party Parliamentary Event calling to End the wait for Access to new Medicines for people with cystic fibrosis in the UK
Gillian joined other members of parliament in urging the NHS and Vertex pharmaceuticals to reach an agreement to allow access to essential precision drug Orkambi. She was joined by families of people with cystic fibrosis and patient advocate charity, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. The parliamentary event took place at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.
This intervention by MPs and the cystic fibrosis community is crucial to highlight that people with CF have been waiting for three years for access to Orkambi, a treatment manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The medicines are the first to treat the root cause of cystic fibrosis and have been shown to slow health deterioration and reduce the need for frequent hospitalisation. Without access to these medicines, people will inevitably suffer more rapid decline into debilitating illness, and in the worst cases, loss of life due to respiratory failure.
Deals recently struck between Vertex and the Danish, Dutch, Swedish, German, Austrian and Irish governments demonstrate the UK has fallen behind in supporting people with cystic fibrosis to access the most advanced therapies.
In North America, Europe, and Australia, 75,000 people live with cystic fibrosis with more than 12% of these people resident in the UK.1Combination therapies manufactured by Vertex are the next generation of medicines.
