{"id":66783,"date":"2019-12-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/12\/27\/new-cystic-fibrosis-drug-is-major-breakthrough-for-patients\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T16:40:46","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T21:40:46","slug":"new-cystic-fibrosis-drug-is-major-breakthrough-for-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/12\/27\/new-cystic-fibrosis-drug-is-major-breakthrough-for-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"New cystic fibrosis drug is major breakthrough for patients"},"content":{"rendered":"

Medical breakthroughs never come easy. But, when they occur, the excitement they generate is extra special.
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\nOne of the biggest medical breakthroughs of 2019 took place in late October when the Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug (Trikafta) that will benefit 90% of cystic fibrosis patients – those with the most common mutation (delta-F508) to the CFTR gene.
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\n"You can’t believe the buzz it created at the national CF meeting in Nashville<\/a>," said Peter J. Murphy, M.D, associate professor, internal medicine, and program director of the Adult CF Program<\/a> in the Nebraska Regional Cystic Fibrosis Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center\/Nebraska Medicine.
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\nCF is an inherited, progressive, life-threatening disease that results in the formation of thick mucus that builds up in the lungs, digestive tract, and other parts of the body. It leads to severe respiratory and digestive problems as well as other complications such as infections and diabetes.
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\nIt is a rare disease impacting only 30,000 people in the U.S. and 70,000 worldwide. Approximately 200 CF patients are seen in the UNMC\/Nebraska Medicine Adult CF Program and about 165 pediatric patients are followed at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center. The median survival age for people with CF is 47.4 years. In 2000, it was only 32.
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\nDr. Murphy called Trikafta "an amazing life-changing solution," but he cautioned, "It’s not curative.
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\n"This is really the cutting edge of science – it’s protein repair," he said. "It has the potential to significantly change the course of the disease."
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\nTrikafta, which is manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals<\/a> in India, was approved by the FDA for people age 12 and older. Clinical trials of the drug showed dramatic improvements in key measures of the disease, including lung function, sweat chloride, and quality of life. One CF patient participated in the Trikafta drug trial at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center.
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\n"It will make a difference in how they feel," Dr. Murphy said. "The mucus is loosened up, and they will cough less."
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\nEarly returns show that Trikafta is providing CF patients with an average increase of 14% in their lung function – with the biggest gain seen almost immediately in the first month.
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\nAlthough Trikafta is a monumental breakthrough for 90% of CF patients, that still leaves 10% of patients who won’t benefit from the drug because they don’t have the delta-F508 mutation.<\/p>\n

\n"It’s pretty sobering for this 10%. They feel left out," said Dr. Murphy, noting that the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is offering $500 million in grant funding to stimulate new research that will hopefully help all CF patients.
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\nUntil another breakthrough comes along, Dr. Murphy and CF patients around the world can at least take a deep breath and celebrate Trikafta.
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\n"It’s astonishing," he said. "Twenty years ago it would have been unthinkable."
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\nUNMC\/Nebraska Medicine CF team<\/strong>
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\nThe Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program at UNMC\/Nebraska Medicine is located in the Internal Medicine Clinic on the fifth floor of the Durham Outpatient Center. It is staffed by three physicians:<\/p>\n