Directors of cystic fibrosis drug firm in NHS standoff made £15m

Directors of cystic fibrosis drug firm in NHS standoff made £15m Patients can’t access vital drug Orkambi as Vertex Pharmaceuticals refuse to drop price

Two UK directors of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the company in a stand-off with the NHS over the high price of its breakthrough cystic fibrosis drug, made more than £15m from share options in 2017, the Guardian can reveal.

Vertex refuses to drop the price of Orkambi, a drug that treats the underlying causes of the life-shortening disease, to a level that the NHS says it can afford. Negotiations have been going on for two years and in stalemate for six months, while children and young adults with cystic fibrosis who could be helped suffer infections and irretrievably lose some of their lung function. The Guardian