Health activists have thrown their weight behind a potentially precedent-setting legal challenge launched by cystic fibrosis patients against Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals over its patents on costly, life-saving treatments.

Vertex is under fire from activists and cystic fibrosis patients co-ordinating campaigns in SA, India, Brazil and Ukraine over the price of its patented treatment Trikafta, which costs more than $322,000 (just under R6m) per patient per year in the US. Trikafta is Vertex’s key revenue-driver, delivering $7.69bn in its 2022 financial year, or 86% of its total revenue for the period, according to financial statements on its website...

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