Reshma Kewalramani

Meet the CEO Leading Medicine’s Biggest Breakthroughs

In the 1950s, children who were diagnosed with cystic fibrosis rarely lived past 5. Now, they live well into their 50s and beyond, thanks in part to Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Boston-based biopharmaceutical company has been at the forefront of CF research for more than 20 years and has created four FDA-approved therapies that target the underlying cause of the disease. That’s not the only way the company is conquering illness: In 2023, Vertex co-developed a Nobel Prize-winning gene-editing technology to treat sickle cell disease, the first drug of its kind to be approved in the United States. In January, the FDA approved the company’s non-opioid pain medication, promising pain relief without the risk of addiction. And Vertex is working on a stem-cell-derived therapy that would cure Type 1 diabetes. Behind many of these breakthroughs is Dr. Reshma Kewalramani. She became the first woman CEO of a large US biotech company in 2020 when she was tapped to lead Vertex, and her efforts aren’t just paying off for patients: The company’s shares have more than doubled under her tenure.

By Audrey Goodson Kingo