Groundbreaking cystic fibrosis drug made seven-year-old girl feel better ‘within hours’

‘I am really happy because it is a life-changing drug and it is going to help me a lot when I am older,’ says Kate Farrer

Kate Farrer, 7, who is one of the first young children to be given Kaftrio on the NHS to treat cystic fibrosis (PA)

A seven-year-old girl who received a new cystic fibrosis drug has said she felt better within hours.

Kate Farrer is one of the first young children to be offered life-changing Kaftrio on the NHS, which was previously only available to patients over the age of 12.

Due to a deal orchestrated by the health service in June 2020, the age bracket for the drug has been extended to the younger age group.

“I am really happy because it is a life-changing drug and it is going to help me a lot when I am older,” Kate said.

She added that she was feeling “a lot better” and can now breathe out without coughing.

The “modulator” drug aids lung function, allowing patients to breathe more easily and have a better quality of life.

Kaftrio combines three drugs which perform different functions – ivacaftor, tezacaftor and elexacaftor – and tackles the underlying causes of the disease, by helping the lungs work effectively.

According to her family, she started taking the medication on Sunday, and began to feel an improvement just three hours later.

Kate is one of about 1,300 children between the ages of six and 11 who are newly eligible for the treatment.

“Now with this new medication – I have only been on it a few days but I am feeling a lot better now – it is really exciting that I got it, because now life will hopefully be a bit fairer with me, because sometimes it is not as fair because of all of my treatment and medications.

“I am actually quite happy as I can now exhale all the way and not cough at all, not one bit.”

Cystic fibrosis is a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits people’s ability to breathe over time.

There are around 8,000 people living with cystic fibrosis in England, which is the second highest proportion in the world.