Orkambi

Debate between Bill Wiggin and Liz McInnes

Monday 4th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Bill Wiggin]

I am not quite sure I follow. I would have been much more sympathetic to Vertex if it had not been doing share buybacks. If a company expects to make $13 billion of profit, it will have factored into its calculations a reasonable profit margin. I believe that Vertex has an unreasonable profit margin. I support the private sector, and I like the idea of that R&D going on to benefit the shareholders, but I also recognise that we have a responsibility. As people who want to see patients cured, we want to see this deal done ideally by Vertex and NICE. This is a £500 million gamble for Vertex, because it will not get the money if it does not do the deal.

[Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab)]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. He mentioned the R&D that is going on. That R&D does not exist in a vacuum; it is done on patients, with input from doctors. Does he agree that the company, no matter how much profit it might want to make, has a moral obligation to cystic fibrosis patients?

[Bill Wiggin]

I absolutely agree, which is why I am suggesting that the Crown use licence ought to be used and taken seriously. I imagine that people working for Vertex are listening closely to this debate. They will have heard the hon. Lady’s point, and I think they need to move on from this attention to profit margin.

As a Conservative, I understand the importance of managing the expectations of private companies. We in Parliament have a responsibility to people with cystic fibrosis to stand up to the greed. That is what we are doing now, and it is lovely to see so many Members here. I urge the Government to consider enacting a Crown use licence, to break the deadlock on this patented drug and reduce the price of Orkambi and the suite of medicines that go with it, which are so desperately needed not only by our constituents, but by their children.