Kalydeco
Kalydeco was the first precision medicine for cystic fibrosis to become available on the NHS.
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What is Kalydeco?
Ivacaftor, known by its brand name Kalydeco, was the first precision medicine for cystic fibrosis to become available on the NHS in December 2016.
Kalydeco is effective in anyone with at least one of the following nine gating mutations: G551D, G178R, S549N, S549R, G551S, G1244E, S1251N, S1255P or G139D, or those with the R117H mutation, which around 5% of the population of people with CF in the UK have.
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What effect does Kalydeco have?
Outcomes calculated using data from the UK Cystic Fibrosis Registry show that median FEV1 (forced expiratory volume – a measure of lung function) increased by an average of 8.7% a significant improvement. People with CF often have higher levels of chloride in their sweat; tests on 439 people showed that their sweat chloride levels dropped by almost 50% on average after taking Kalydeco.
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Is Kalydeco available in the UK?
Kalydeco is available for use in the UK for people with CF over the age of four months with one of nine rare gating mutations (G551D, G178R, S549N, S549R, G551S, G1244E, S1251N, S1255P or G139D) and over the age of four months for people with the R117H mutation.
For some rare mutations, Kalydeco is also available off-label on the NHS. You can find a list of these mutations here.
Fighting for life-saving drugs
Find out more about our campaign to ensure that people with CF across the UK can have access to innovative precision medicines.
Campaign timeline
Find out what's been happening in our campaign for life-saving drugs since it began in 2015.