Refunds of Orkambi in Poland - medicine for Cystic fibrosis

National Health Fund

Office: 02-390 Warszawa ul. Grójecka 186  Office of President of National Health Fund Elżbieta Zahaczewska-Wyroba p.o. Dyrektora Gabinetu Prezesa Social Communication Office Sylwia Wądrzyk-Bularz p.o. Dyrektora Biura Komunikacji Społecznej, Spokesperson for the Department of Health Care BenefitsWojciech Zawalski Director of Department of Health Care Benefits

Ministry of Health

Minister of Health Mr. Lukasz Szumowski  Miodowa 15 00-952 Warszawa 

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe) Limited Level 9, Paddington Central 2 Kingdom Street London W2 6BD  

Dear Sir or Madam,

We are asking you for introduction and reimbursement/refunds of new medicine for cystic fibrosis (CF), manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, called ORKAMBI. We parents of sick children, cystic fibrosis sufferers, friends of all CF sick persons, but also the community seeing the effects of this devastating and killing disease, we seek for your help and support in accessing the drug, which is currently the only hope for a better tomorrow, a cure that let to think  of tomorrow at all. Below is an article published in the media, documenting the effect of the drug. More about the drug itself also on the website of the European Medicines Agency http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-_Summary_for_the_public/human/003954/WC500197614.pdf

Recently Orkambi refunds have been agreed by authorities in Ireland, and earlier in other EU countries. In Poland there are about 2000 people suffering from cystic fibrosis patients, they live about 10 years shorter than in Western countries.

Daily Mail article copied here: Pill gives fresh hope to cystic fibrosis victims...and tackles the cause of the genetic disease rather than just relieving its symptoms  ·     Orkambi is a combination of two drugs and was licensed for UK last month ·         The new twice-a-day tablet works by thinning the mucus, preventing damage and allowing the lungs to heal ·         Cystic fibrosis causes the lungs and digestive system to become clogged with thick, sticky mucus, and average life expectancy of sufferers is 41 (not in Poland) By Martyn Halle For The Mail On Sunday     A treatment that could transform the lives of thousands of cystic fibrosis patients is being considered for use in the NHS. Orkambi is a combination of two drugs that tackle the cause of the genetic disease rather than just relieving its symptoms. Cystic fibrosis (CF) causes the lungs and digestive system to become clogged with thick, sticky mucus, and a transplant may be necessary if the lungs become extensively damaged. The average life expectancy of sufferers is 41.+2   Orkambi is a combination of two drugs that tackle the cause of the genetic disease rather than just relieving its symptoms The new twice-a-day tablet works by thinning the mucus, preventing damage and allowing the lungs to heal. Experts say that while Orkambi is not a cure for CF, the treatment could allow many patients to lead near-normal lives without the need for a transplant. Orkambi was licensed for UK use last month, and watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is now considering the case for it to be made available on the NHS. A decision is due next July. Professor Stuart Elborn, a respiratory consultant who trialled the new drug at Queen's University in Belfast, says: 'These two new treatments are game-changers. We are now seeing CF becoming a chronic disease that you live with instead of one that takes your life.' About 10,000 Britons have CF, and they are the single largest group needing a lung transplant. Orkambi works to correct a faulty gene, known as the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). The gene normally creates a protein that moves salt and water out of a cell, but when these proteins are missing or defective, a sticky mucus builds up in the lungs, causing infection, breathing difficulties and loss of lung function. Orkambi works by allowing the protein within the cells to rise to the surface to move salt in and out of the cell, keeping a healthy balance of salt and water in the lungs and other organs. Research has shown that it reduces outbreaks of infection, and can cut the number of hospital admissions by more than 60 per cent. Trials involving 1,100 CF patients in Europe, the United States and Australia found lung function improved after 24 weeks in all patients taking Orkambi. Cystic fibrosis (CF) causes the lungs and digestive system to become clogged with thick, sticky mucus, and a transplant may be necessary if the lungs become extensively damaged Three years ago, mother-of-one and CF patient Carly Jeavons was struggling to breathe because her lung function measured just 44 per cent. Despite taking 90 tablets and doing two hours of physiotherapy every day, her health was declining dramatically. In March 2014 she started taking Orkambi with impressive results. She has stopped taking insulin for her CF-related diabetes, and medication for her digestion, and has suffered fewer of the potentially deadly infections caused by the disease. 'I have a zest for life like never before because my CF doesn't get in the way any more,' says Carly, 28, from Dudley, West Midlands. Although it could prove effective for up to half of people with CF, Orkambi is not cheap. In the US, where it was licensed by the Food and Drug Administration in July, it costs $710 (about £470) per patient per day, though the European price is likely to be lower. The Cystic Fibrosis Trust has called on NICE to look beyond the usual 24-week clinical trials data when making decisions on the efficacy of drugs such Orkambi. 'Twenty-four weeks cannot provide an accurate assessment of new treatments such as Orkambi, which offer long term preventative stabilisation of CF,' said a spokesman. 'We need the NHS to give clinicians and patients time to assess how new precision medicines might slow the decline of the disease. This is a once-in- a-generation opportunity.' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3357455/Pill-gives-fresh-hope-cystic-fibrosis-victims-tackles-cause-genetic-disease-just-relieving-symptoms.html

Mirosław Wójcik, Prezes Fundacji Oddech Życia    Contact the author of the petition