Cystic Fibrosis Foundation rolls out $500 million cures initiative

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation just announced a new $500 million cures initiative, particularly focused on those who aren’t going to be helped by Vertex’s new cutting-edge treatment and its other drugs for the disease. Just last week, the FDA approved the company’s Trikafta, which could help up to 90% of patients. But those don’t work for people with rare mutations. “It’s not the entire story,” Dr. Michael Boyle of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation said of the Vertex therapies. “The rest of the story is: How are we going to make sure there are treatments for the underlying cause of CF for 100% of patients?” The new initiative, called Path to a Cure, will partially fund basic research, but the vast majority of the new funding — which will be rolled out through 2025 — will go toward clinical programs.