# Cystic fibrosis patients get miracle drug thanks to federal funding

> Trump administration rules threaten federal research funding that helped create cystic fibrosis treatments.
- Title: Cystic fibrosis patients get miracle drug thanks to federal…
- Summary: Trump administration rules threaten federal research funding that helped create cystic fibrosis treatments. Trump administration policies risk cutting…
- Keywords: cystic fibrosis, kalydeco, vertex pharmaceuticals, national institutes of health, federal research funding, health research funding, trump administration, office of management and budget, science, ideas, Cystic, fibrosis
- Source: The Conversation — https://theconversation.com/cystic-fibrosis-patients-got-their-miracle-drug-thanks-to-federal-research-funding-new-trump-administration-rules-may-cut-future-miracles-short-293934
- Author: Fred D. Ledley
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: cystic fibrosis, kalydeco, vertex pharmaceuticals, national institutes of health, federal research funding, health research funding, trump administration, office of management and budget, science, ideas
## 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.
## Key takeaway

Trump administration policies risk cutting federal research funding that enabled life-saving cystic fibrosis drugs.