These cystic fibrosis patients may finally get life-changing treatment

Vertex Pharmaceuticals revolutionized the treatment of cystic fibrosis. It also has unfinished business.

The Boston drugmaker’s medicines for the genetic disease — which damages the lungs and other organs — have transformed the lives of patients, helping them abandon other time-consuming treatments, shrug off what would have been dangerous respiratory infections, and just live breathing easier. The drugs, a number of so-called modulators approved starting in 2012, have been one of the great biotech success stories.