Wonder drug is on its way... thanks to YOU

DELIGHTED cystic fibrosis patients will receive wonder drug Kaftrio within days as UK health chiefs yesterday praised our determined team of campaigners.

When the Daily Express began our CF crusade in February 2019, sufferers had been waiting four years for groundbreaking pills Orkambi and Symkevi.

We gave patients a platform to tell their heartbreaking stories and plead to Health Secretary Matt Hancock and US drug-makers Vertex. By October a deal was done, so we next set our sights on Vertex’s future pill Kaftrio – hailed as “almost cure”.

In June, after 195 Daily Express CF articles and 107 case studies, the NHS secured Kaftrio too and this week the first patients had NHS letters to arrange delivery.

The Kaftrio victory has prompted delighted sufferers to post “thank you” signs on social media, to thank the NHS, Vertex and our readers for their support.

Biochemisty student Annabelle Brown, 21, was stunned when Frimley Park Hospital wrote saying her pills could be with her in days. Her childhood dream was to find a cure for the condition and in May last year she first appeared in our paper pleading for Symkevi.

Annabelle, of Guildford, Surrey, said: “It hasn’t sunk in yet and won’t until I have it in my hands! I started Symkevi last New Year and it has massively helped my digestive system and boosted my lung function. Kaftrio is far, far better so I can’t wait.”

CF is a life-limiting genetic condition which destroys the lungs with sticky mucus and affects other vital organs.There are more than 80,000 sufferers in the world – 30,000 in the US and about 10,500 in the UK – but only about half of those live to the age of 32.

Kaftrio can only be taken by sufferers aged over 12 for now, so Orkambi is still the only option for those younger.

The CF Medical Association hails Kaftrio as “life-transforming” and when all ages can have the pill, it will be suitable for 90 per cent of sufferers. The remaining 10 per cent have rare “nonsense” mutations, which mean they are as yet unsuitable. But stories from those already on Kaftrio show why patients and doctors are thrilled with results.

Nicole Adams, 29, was dying in a Belfast hospital at Christmas when we helped her get Kaftrio direct from Vertex. Now she is out running every day, has put on two stone and runs a successful clothing business.

Dr Keith Brownlee, of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said it is “essential” that people with

CF are given Kaftrio.