{"id":551385,"date":"2026-07-21T00:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T00:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/551385\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T00:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T00:02:09","slug":"yukon-govt-working-to-add-new-cystic-fibrosis-medication-to-its-drug-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/551385\/","title":{"rendered":"Yukon gov’t working to add new cystic fibrosis medication to its drug plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Yukon government is looking into a new drug that one advocate says would improve the lives of Yukoners living with cystic fibrosis. <\/p>\n

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease where the body creates thick, sticky mucus which, untreated, could lead to severe organ damage, and ultimately organ failure.<\/p>\n

The drug is called Alyftrek. The territory currently covers two drugs that treat the disease called Trikafta, and Kalydeco, but cystic fibrosis advocates say adding Alyftrek to the territory’s drug formulary is needed as well.<\/p>\n

Amy Labonte is the president of Cystic Fibrosis Yukon.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Labonte advocated for the territory to include Trikafta to its drug formulary. At that time she called the drug “ground-breaking” for those living with cystic fibrosis. <\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Labonte sent a letter to the minister of Health and Social Services saying Alyftrek is much better, and could help a lot more people and called on his government to add it to its drug plan.<\/p>\n

“We need multiple drugs on the market to cover multiple genetic makeups,” Labonte said. <\/p>\n

\"AAmy Labonte, and her son Seamus standing infront of Blarney Castle in Ireland. Labonte says adding the cystic fibrosis drug Alyftrek to the territory’s drug formulary is needed and will help a broader population of Yukoners who live with the disease. (Submitted by Amy Labonte)<\/p>\n

Labonte said people taking Trikafta need to take multiple pills, twice a day whereas people using Alyftrek will only have to take one pill a day. She said there are fewer side effects that come with taking the medication.<\/p>\n

Labonte said the cost of treatment isn’t cheap either, noting the annual cost is around $350,000 which means many people living with the disease aren’t able to access it unless it’s funded by the government.<\/p>\n

Labonte she’s extremely grateful that the territory is working toward adding Alyftrek to its drug formulary.<\/p>\n

Yukon Health and Social Services Minister Brad Cathers was unavailable for an interview and his department sent CBC News a statement instead. <\/p>\n

“Work is currently underway to complete a product listing agreement with the manufacturer,” the statement read. “Once this agreement and the necessary approvals are in place, Alyftrek can be added to the Yukon drug formulary.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before a drug can be added to the territory’s drug formulary it has to go through a few steps and approvals including approval by Health Canada, a positive reimbursement recommendation from Canada’s Drug Agency, successful price negotiations through the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, completion of a product listing agreement with the manufacturer, and approval for listing on the Yukon drug formulary, the statement said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[163,85,46,482],"class_list":["post-551385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-medication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}