Play the game, Vertex

CYSTIC Fibrosis is a genetic disorder, primarily affecting the lungs, that affects 10,000 Britons. Their life expectancy is lowered, and half of all sufferers die before 32.

Orkambi is a drug proven to help half of all CF patients. But its US manufacturer, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, charges £104,000 a patient a year for the drug and has rebuffed a five-year, £500million deal from NHS England, although it recently posted a 40 per cent profit for the last quarter. Rightly, the company is facing a parliamentary inquiry but talks have stalled.

Yesterday, Vertex cancelled a planned meeting with Labour’s health chief Jon Ashworth. Desperate relatives have beseeched the Government to allow the drug to be produced more cheaply via an obscure law, but it’s a long shot, and the Health and Social Care Committee has announced an inquiry in March. A deal must be reached.