'Breakthrough' Cystic Fibrosis Drug Could See High Demand

By Judy Packer-Tursman

The FDA recently approved a drug therapy for cystic fibrosis (CF) that is being viewed as a "game-changer" for the roughly nine in 10 patients with the rare, progressive disease who might benefit from it. Where does this leave payers facing rising specialty drug costs across the board? Industry experts predict that most payers likely will cover this latest cystic fibrosis treatment option despite an annual price tag topping $300,000.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Trikafta (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor), taken as a twice-daily pill regimen, is the first triple combination therapy available to treat patients with the most common cystic fibrosis mutation. The drug directly addresses the underlying cause of the illness — mutations in the CFTR protein.

The FDA approved Trikafta for patients 12 years and older with at least one F508del mutation in the CFTR gene, which is estimated to represent 90% of the cystic fibrosis population — many of whom have had no approved therapeutic options previously.

"From a utilization management standpoint, there is nothing in the marketplace that will be more effective or significantly less costly" than Trikafta, says Yusuf Rashid, R.Ph., vice president of pharmacy and vendor relationship management at Community Health Plan of Washington.

Manu Jain, M.D., professor of medicine and pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and director of Northwestern's adult CF program, expects the payer community generally will approve Trikafta. But coverage "definitely will be uneven," he says.

According to Jain, certain people on Kalydeco won't be candidates for the new drug; but most on Symdeko or Orkambi likely will switch to Trikafta.

During Vertex's third-quarter 2019 earnings call, Vertex's Chief Commercial Officer Stuart Arbuckle said the first patients have already been prescribed Trikafta by their physicians, "underscoring the strong interest in the medicine." But he added that such demand for the new product might prompt launch delays.

From Health Plan Weekly