NEW drugs to treat cystic fibrosis are to be made available in Northern Ireland.
Orkambi, Symkevi and Kalydeco will become available to eligible patients. The announcement comes a week after NHS England said it had reached a pricing agreement with drugs manufacturer Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
The agreement also stipulates that the company must offer an equivalent pricing agreement for Northern Ireland and Wales.
Richard Pengelly, Department of Health Permanent Secretary, said: "In the NHS England agreement there is a commitment that Vertex must make the drugs available to Northern Ireland patients on equivalent terms. That removes any feasible impediment to a localised agreement with the company.
"Discussions are being commenced... and, subject to that localised agreement being formally signed off, we will be able to start commissioning the drugs as a matter of urgency."
Ireland currently has one of the highest rates of cystic fibrosis (CF) in the world, with 500 patients – 300 adults and 200 children - currently living with the life-threatening condition in Northern Ireland.
Children diagnosed with the disease, which attacks the lungs, previously had a low life expectancy - with infants born in the 1950s only reaching the the age of five or six.
Only around half of people with cystic fibrosis live to celebrate their 40th birthday.
