Skip to main content
Gifts from The Morning Star
Getting Orkambi on the NHS is a bittersweet victory, but the fight goes on

AFTER a long and fraught four years, an agreement between Pharma company Vertex and the NHS has finally resulted in Orkambi and Symkevi, the “game-changing” cystic fibrosis drugs, being made available on the NHS. 

Vertex were originally asking £100,000 per patient, per year for Orkambi, which the NHS couldn’t afford, resulting in a protracted price negotiation that above anything else illustrates a system which requires fundamental change.

This conflict between private companies and their need to give returns to their shareholders operating in the medical arena where much more is at stake was highlighted by Just Treatment patient leader Emily Birchall who said: “This is absolutely brilliant news for patients and for all the families who have fought so hard to access Orkambi and other medicines for cystic fibrosis over the last four years.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
COST CONTROL MODE: Health Secretary Wes Streeting during a visit to NHS National Operations Centre in London on July 25 2025
Features / 18 September 2025
18 September 2025

Politicians who continue to welcome contracts with US companies without considering the risks and consequences of total dependency in the years to come are undermining the raison d’etre of the NHS, argues Dr JOHN PUNTIS

Toothless in England campaigners for NHS dentistry
Features / 5 April 2025
5 April 2025
MARK JONES of Toothless in England says the devastating report from MPs on Britain’s worsening dental crisis shows we need immediate action — and explains what must be done
LINING THEIR POCKETS: Gilead Sciences HQ in Foster City, Cal
Science and Society / 18 December 2024
18 December 2024
Despite miraculous trial results showing new treatment could halt transmission, corporate greed and patent laws condemn millions to preventable infection and death, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT