"DELAYING this means people are dying sooner" - those were the harrowing words of Dudley North MP Ian Austin as he argued the case for making the wonder drug Orkambi freely available to cystic fibrosis sufferers.

The Labour MP took part in a three-hour debate in Westminster Hall on Monday, where he hammered home the importance of people getting access to the drug, which was licensed in the UK in November 2015.

The drug targets the genetic mutations that cause the life-shortening disease, however the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) opted not to recommend the drug to the NHS due to uncertainty around its long-term impact and its high cost.

Mr Austin said: "Three years after Orkambi was approved for use and two years after NICE said that it was 'important and effective', we are still here, waiting for it to be provided for people with cystic fibrosis.

"But whatever I feel about that is nothing compared with the upset and worry—indeed, the terror—that people with cystic fibrosis and their families go through as they wait while their health, life expectancy and quality of life decline.

"The longer people live without access to drugs such as Orkambi, the worse their lungs become.

"The damage that has been done is permanent. Every day this treatment is delayed limits the lives of people it could help."

Mr Austin said that just last week, following advice from NICE, NHS England had asked Vertex, the drug company behind Orkambi, to review its proposed pricing - stating that unless that happened, further progress was 'frankly unlikely'.

He continued: "What sort of hope does a blunt statement such as 'frankly unlikely' give people with cystic fibrosis?

"We should be looking not just at the cost of providing Orkambi, but at the savings that that would make in other areas.

"Let us talk also about the contribution that people who are given Orkambi can make to society. Let us think not just about the cost, but about the contribution they make, the businesses they can start, the jobs they can create and the taxes that will be paid."

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, Steve Brine, said the 115,419 strong petition that sparked the debate urged for him to 'call for a resolution to ongoing negotiations between Vertex Pharmaceuticals, NHS England and NICE as a matter of the utmost urgency' and said he would do "exactly that".

He continued: "The negotiations must remain constructive and be undertaken with the utmost urgency.

"The NHS is in discussions with Vertex about Orkambi. Vertex has approached NHS England with a proposed deal to reduce its prices.

"While I cannot share the details of this proposal due to their commercially confidential nature - at the level that Vertex has proposed, the products are still far from cost-effective.

"Therefore, there is more talking to do.​ "Last week NHS England made a counter-proposal, which would ensure that the drugs could be used at a price that is cost-effective.

"I understand that NHS England has agreed to meet with Vertex to discuss that counter-proposal further."

Mr Brine said he would be watching the situation "like a hawk", adding: "While it is not for Ministers to approve, I truly believe this can be a mutually satisfactory arrangement for both parties."

Following the debate, a Vertex spokesman told the News: “The scale of parliamentary engagement in this debate echoes and amplifies the cystic fibrosis community’s sense of urgency on access to new Vertex medicines.

“Every day matters for cystic fibrosis patients and we stand ready and willing to engage in meaningful dialogue about a way forward."