From The Conversation · Fred D. Ledley · · 1m
Cystic fibrosis patients get miracle drug thanks to federal funding
Trump administration rules threaten federal research funding that helped create cystic fibrosis treatments.
In brief
Trump administration rules threaten federal research funding that helped create cystic fibrosis treatments. Trump administration policies risk cutting federal research funding that enabled life-saving cystic fibrosis drugs. Originally reported by The Conversation.
Cystic fibrosis treatment history
Before 2012, cystic fibrosis patients had no treatments and median survival age was 15.
Kalydeco and other drugs
Vertex Pharmaceuticals launched Kalydeco in 2012, followed by Orkambi in 2015, Symdeko in 2018, Trikafta in 2019 and Alyftrek in 2024.
Current survival rates
Today, the median survival age for cystic fibrosis patients in the United States is 66 years.
NIH funding role
NIH funded over 6,200 research papers on cystic fibrosis biology in the 27 years before Kalydeco was approved.
Funding amounts
NIH provided $3.2 billion for basic research and $940 million for applied research on cystic fibrosis from 1985 to 2012.
Trump administration threat
Trump administration rules threaten NIH funding, peer review and research on certain topics.
In short
Trump administration policies risk cutting federal research funding that enabled life-saving cystic fibrosis drugs.
