FUNDING OF CYSTIC FIBROSIS DRUG TRIKAFTA EXPANDED FOR CANADIAN CHILDREN AGED 2-5 YEARS OLD
TORONTO, May 17, 2024 – Progress has been made towards improving access to the life-changing cystic fibrosis (CF) medication, Trikafta, in Canada. The drug is now available to Canadians aged two years and older, with at least one F508del gene mutation, through publicly funded drug plans in all but two jurisdictions, the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
The medication was approved for the two-to-five-year age group by Health Canada in October 2023, and for ages six years and older in April 2022.
Following a positive recommendation in December 2023 by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), the agency that makes non-binding recommendations to Canada’s public drug plans on whether they should fund drugs, regions began broadening their drug coverage to include Trikafta, beginning with Alberta, followed by British Columbia, Ontario and Nunavut by the end of 2023. Since, almost all other provinces and territories have listed Trikafta on public drug formularies, with Manitoba, and Newfoundland and Labrador being the most recent to expand coverage for those between the ages of two to five years old. As of April 2024, the only regions to not have officially listed Trikafta for this group are the Yukon and Northwest Territories, which wexpect to provide the drug based on need.
“This is a progressive step bringing improved access to about 300 Canadian children who are eligible to receive Trikafta,” said Dr. Paul Eckford, Chief Scientific Officer, Cystic Fibrosis Canada, “We now turn our focus to reducing financial barriers and working towards access for those without the most common mutation that may benefit from this life saving therapy”.
While CADTH provides non-binding recommendations to regional governments on whether to cover the cost of medications through their public plans, these recommendations are considered by all provinces and territories except Quebéc, which follows recommendations published by the Institut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS).
In late December 2023, INESSS published a positive recommendation on funding Trikafta for the two-to-five-year age group, with funding in Quebéc beginning on February 1, 2024, for those eligible in the province.
Cystic Fibrosis Canada continues to advocate for comprehensive funding coverage, urging public drug programs, drug plans and private insurers to remove barriers and ensure access for all who could benefit from Trikafta, including adding the life-changing and life-saving drug to the public drug formularies in both the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
“We are so proud of the tireless advocacy work of our community. However, many Canadians with CF still face financial barriers due to the cost of public drug plans” said Kim Steele, Director of Government and Community Relations for Cystic Fibrosis Canada. “There should be no cost to access life-saving and life-changing drugs like Trikafta. We still have a ways to go to ensure access for all, and we will continue to work to that goal with urgency.”
