cystic fibrosis

The Italian health insurance system has agreed to cover cystic fibrosis patients’ use of Vertex Pharmaceuticals‘ Orkambi (lumacaftor/ivacaftor). Those eligible for the Italian Medicines Agency coverage are patients 12 and older who have two copies of a particular mutation of the gene that is defective in the disease. That is the…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is promoting a targeted treatment approach known as precision medicine to help people with diseases stemming from specific, and often rare, genetic features. Its efforts include expanding the use of approved therapies to other genetic-based conditions, and pushing for the development of more biomarkers…

Synspira’s SNSP113 gives antibiotics more punch against the Burkholderia cepacia infections that cystic fibrosis patients experience, a study reports. The research, published in PLoS One, was titled “Novel glycopolymer sensitizes Burkholderia cepacia complex isolates from cystic fibrosis patients to tobramycin and meropenem.” Lung infections caused by Burkholderia cepacia are difficult to…

A Phase 3 study of Sollpura (liprotamase), a non-porcine enzyme replacement therapy aiming to treat exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) due to cystic fibrosis (CF) better than existing porcine-derived therapies, is now recruiting about 150 pediatric and adult patients in the United States, Europe and Israel. Specifically, the expanded trial will evaluate the efficacy — or non-inferiority — of Sollpura compared…

A deeper understanding of how bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa acts and survives in people despite antibiotic treatment was the focus of a doctoral thesis, along with a recommendation for antibiotic combinations that might work better those what’s currently in use. The thesis, “Host-pathogen interactions in Pseudomonas aeruginosa invasive and respiratory tract infection,” is by…

A computer program created by physicians in Cincinnati may help cystic fibrosis (CF) patients to keep using those at-home treatments they feel are most effective, by providing them an easy way of sharing their preferences — and a given therapy’s effectiveness — with their doctors. CF patients rely on a variety of home therapies, from…