Elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor, a game-changer in cystic fibrosis: The Portuguese experience

Phase 3 trials of elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor (ELX/TEZ/IVA) combination treatment in people with cystic fibrosis (CF) with ≥1 F508del-CFTR allele showed profound short-term effects on lung function, weight, and pulmonary exacerbations (PEx). The authors conducted a 12-month study to add evidence on the real-world long-term effectiveness and safety of CFTR modulator therapy with ELX/TEZ/IVA in Portuguese CF adult population. Ambispective, multicentre, observational, real-life study involving all the Portuguese CF Reference Centres. Adult patients on treatment with ELX/TEZ/IVA combination outside clinical trials were included. Demographics, efficacy, and safety variables on the first 12 months of treatment were compared with the pre-treatment year. 132 adult people with CF were included, of which 119 completed 12 months treatment (mean duration of treatment 21.5 months). Mean age was 31.7 ± 11.0 years, 53 % patients were homozygous for the F508del variant, baseline sweat chloride was 86.7 ± 25.9 mmol/L and pre-treatment percent-predicted FEV1 was 77.9 ± 19.7 %. At 1 year, mean absolute change from baseline in FEV1 was +0.46L (95 % CI: 0.37, 0.55; p