VRTX News & Events

Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced that Health Canada has accepted for review a New Drug Submission for suzetrigine for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acute pain in adults. Suzetrigine is a selective NaV1.8 pain signal inhibitor that represents a new class of oral pain medicine; it is not an opioid or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. If approved by Health Canada, suzetrigine has the potential to be the first new class of medicine in Canada to treat acute pain in over twenty years. Vertex intends for the regulatory review of suzetrigine to be part of an aligned review with Canadian Health Technology Assessment organizations: Canada's Drug Agency and the Institut national d'excellence en sante et en services sociaux in Quebec. Aligned reviews provide an opportunity for information sharing between Health Canada and HTA bodies, leading to greater coordination to support Canadians' timely access to effective new therapies.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced that a reimbursement agreement was signed with the GKV-Spitzenverband for its CRISPR/Cas9 gene-edited therapy, CASGEVY. This agreement secures sustainable access to this innovative one-time treatment for eligible patients in Germany ages 12 years and older living with severe sickle cell disease or transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia. "For the first time in Germany, a long-term, sustainable access agreement to a gene therapy has been established for people living with sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia," said Ludovic Fenaux, Senior Vice President, Vertex International. "This agreement represents significant progress for people living with these two devastating and life-shortening diseases. We are pleased to collaborate across the health care system to ensure the value of CASGEVY is recognized and sustainable patient access is secured." With this agreement, Germany joins a growing number of countries that have reimbursed CASGEVY, including Austria, Denmark, Italy, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Vertex remains committed to working with government and reimbursement authorities globally to ensure sustainable access for eligible patients.