Expired Orkambi could have treated over 600 patients in 2018

Vertex destroyed almost 8,000 expired packs of cystic fibrosis drug Orkambi lumacaftor/ivacaftor that were stocked in the U.K. last year, according to a letter from Simon Lem, the company's VP & and general manager, Northern Europe region.

That much Orkambi could have treated over 600 patients for a year, considering that each of the 7,880 packs contained a 28-day supply of the drug. The expired drug was manufactured in 2015 and 2016 to supply 13 countries, including the U.K. At Orkambi's U.K. list price of £104,000 ($137,169), that quantity of Orkambi would have been valued at over £62.9 million ($82.9 million)...