Force drug firm to hand over vital cure, says MP
A DRUGS company is holding the NHS to ransom and the Government should consider taking action to ensure cystic fibrosis sufferers are not denied life-extending treatment, a leading MP claims.
Sammy Wilson, of the Democratic Unionist Party whose support props up the Tory Government, insists ministers should get tough with pharmaceutical giant Vertex.
Campaigners are pushing for the Government to set aside Vertex’s patent on Orkambi so other companies can make cheaper versions by invoking “crown use”.
NHS England has offered £500million for five years’ worth of Vertex medicines but the two sides have not reached a deal.
Mr Wilson is adamant ministers should “keep open the option of using a crown licence to find a way around the company’s use of its patent to hold the NHS to ransom in a way which they have done to date”.
He said: “It may not be an easy solution, but it is a possible solution and it would be wrong of the minister to rule this out.
“Such a decision would take the pressure off Vertex to come to a negotiated solution with the health service.”
Orkambi treats a mutation
‘RANSOM’: Vertex chief executive Dr Jeffrey Leiden
which affects around half of people with cystic fibrosis in the UK. The drug helps maintain a healthy balance of water and salt in the lungs.
Lung deterioration is a major cause of death for people with the condition and there is strong demand for Orkambi to be available on the NHS. Vertex chief executive Dr Jeffrey Leiden has been criticised by parents for holding the Government to ransom as some of Britain’s 10,000 sufferers of the genetic disorder are denied the drug. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said Vertex had been offered the “largest ever commitment of its kind in the 70-year history of the NHS” but Vertex had put Orkambi “out of reach”.
The Government insists it is not moving or giving ground. But the spokesman welcomed reports that Vertex is willing to come back to the table where ministers will explain why the deal is the best possible, is profitable for them, and will save lives. He added: “We are clear that patients should have access to cost-effective, innovative medicines on the NHS at a price we can afford – and we strongly urge Vertex to accept NHS England’s generous offer.”
Rufus Wilson, four, endures a rigorous routine of 22 tablets and two physiotherapy sessions daily and needs Orkambi as the drug “stops the clock” on deterioration. Mother Claire Wilson, 40, of Weston-superMare, Somerset, said: “How can the Government not want to help him and thousands more? I dread the day I tell him ‘the drugs are out there, but you can’t afford them’.”
Vertex said it is “committed to working with all parties to finding a solution” but it is strongly opposed to the use of a crown licence. A spokesman said it would “seriously undermine our ability to achieve these goals and would significantly weaken incentives for future innovation”.
Health minister Steve Brine said using a crown licence was “not a quick or easy solution, but it is important we consider all options”.
He said Vertex “needs to agree the very generous offer that has been made so that patients who need Orkambi are able to access it on the NHS”.