9 December 2021

Medsafe, New Zealand’s Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority, has given consent for the use of Trikafta in New Zealand.

Medsafe assesses medicines to make sure that they meet New Zealand and internationally recognised standards for quality, safety and efficacy before they can be distributed here.

The consent for the use of Trikafta covers people with cystic fibrosis who are six years and over who have at least one F508del mutation.

Medsafe gave Vertex’s application for Trikafta priority status and completed its assessment in just under 6 months.  Cystic Fibrosis NZ is delighted that Trikafta has been approved for use in New Zealand and our thanks go to Medsafe for undertaking its work so quickly.

Approval of Trikafta is a major milestone in the process of securing access to this life changing medicine for the Kiwis with CF who would benefit from it. But we’re not there yet.

Pharmac has publicly called Trikafta a paradigm-shifting treatment and said that it wants to fund it – adding it to its Options for Investment list.  But no decision to fund has yet been made.

Now there is Medsafe consent for the use of Trikafta, a funding decision needs to be made as soon as possible.  Cystic Fibrosis NZ urges Pharmac to engage with Vertex to agree a fair and reasonable price for Trikafta to make sure Kiwis with CF have a future to look forward to.