Reshma Kewalramani

Last updated

Reshma Kewalramani
Born
Education Boston University, B.A./M.D. (1998); Harvard General Management Program (2015)
Occupation(s)CEO and president of Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Years active1998–present
Known forFirst female CEO of a large US biotech company.
Board member of
  • Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Boston University School of Medicine
  • Biomedical Science Careers Program
  • Kidney Health Initiative
Awards
  • Harvard Medical School Excellence in Teaching Award
  • International Institute of New England Golden Door Award
  • New England Council New Englander of the Year
  • Fortune Most Powerful Women List
Website Reshma Kewalramani

Reshma Kewalramani, is the president and chief executive officer of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company based in Boston, Massachusetts, as of April 1, 2020. [1] [2] [3] She is the first female CEO of a large US biotech company. [2] She was previously the chief medical officer and vice president of global medicines development and medical affairs at Vertex. [4] [5]

Contents

Early life and education

Kewalramani was born in Bombay, India. She and her family immigrated to the US when she was 11 years old. [6]

She graduated in 1998 from the seven-year liberal arts/medical education program at Boston University, [7] Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude. [8] She finished her internship and residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital and her fellowship in nephrology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital combined program. [9] After finishing her fellowship in clinical nephrology she did research in transplantation. [8] She graduated from the General Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2015. [4]

Career

Kewalramani began her career as a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. [2] [4] She was also a physician at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [8] She then entered the biopharma sector, working for Amgen for over 12 years, where she held leadership positions in research and development. [1] In 2017 she joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and in 2018 became Chief Medical Officer. [10] [2] She assumed the role of president and CEO on April 1, 2020 and is a member of the Vertex Board of Directors. [11]

Since Kewalramani became CEO, [12] Vertex has continued to develop and gain regulatory approvals for its cystic fibrosis therapies, including Trikafta [13] [14] [15] and Alyftrek. [16] [17] Under her tenure, [18] and in collaboration with CRISPR Therapeutics, Vertex developed Casgevy, a CRISPR-based gene-editing therapy for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia, [18] [19] [20] which received regulatory approval in December 2023; [12] and has advanced investigational cell therapies for type 1 diabetes. [21] [22] The company is also conducting clinical trials for a treatment for APOL1-mediated kidney disease (AMKD), among other programs. [23] [24] In 2025, the FDA approved Journavx (suzetrigine) for moderate-to-severe acute pain, marking the first approval of a new class of pain medication in over two decades. [25] [26]

Boards and awards

Kewalramani is a member of the Massachusetts General Hospital Board of Trustees, the Biomedical Science Careers Program Board [27] , and the Boston University School of Medicine Dean's Advisory Board. [28] [29] She was also a member of the board of directors of Ginkgo Bioworks, [30] the National Board of Directors for Year Up, [31] and was on the inaugural board of directors of the Kidney Health Initiative. [32]

She is the recipient of the American College of Physicians Associates Council Award, the American Medical Women's Association Janet M. Glasgow Memorial Achievement Citation, and the Harvard Medical School Excellence in Teaching Award. Kewalramani is also a Fellow of the American Society of Nephrology and received board certification in Internal Medicine in 2001 and in Nephrology in 2003. [8] In 2019, she received the TiE Boston Healthcare Leadership Award, [33] and was named one of Boston Business Journal's Power 50. [34] In 2020, Kewalramani was named to the inaugural Business Leaders List by Indiaspora, [35] Business Insider’s list of 10 people transforming health care, [36] the PharmaVOICE 100 list of leaders in the life sciences, [37] and Boston Business Journal’s list of Women Who Mean Business. [38] In 2021, she was the recipient of the International Institute of New England’s Golden Door Award and was named a New Englander of the Year by the New England Council. [39] In 2023, she was a recipient of the Hope Visionary award at the 26th annual Biomedical Science Careers Program Evening of Hope benefit in recognition of her passion and commitment to the BSCP students and its mission to help minorities and underrepresented individuals achieve their educational and professional goals in STEM fields.[ citation needed ] Under her leadership as CEO, Vertex was ranked #2 on The Commonwealth Institute’s Top Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts in 2021. [40] She was named on Fortune 's list of Most Powerful Women in 2023. [41]

In 2025, Time magazine included Kewalramani on its list of "100 Most Influential People." [42] [43] [44]

Personal life

Kewalramani lives in Massachusetts, [4] and has twin sons. [2]

References

  1. 1 2 Toy S (25 July 2019). "Vertex Pharmaceuticals names Chief Medical Officer Reshma Kewalramani as new CEO". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Edelman L (25 July 2019). "For biotech industry, a milestone: Vertex names woman as president, CEO - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  3. DeAngelis A (2 April 2020). "VERTEX 3.0: One of the area's largest biotechs enters new era of leadership, drug development". BizJournals. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Singh R (August 2019). "Trail-blazing MED Alum to Lead Vertex Pharmaceuticals". Boston University. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  5. Surdez S (2019-08-27). "These Female Executives Set the Standard of Excellence in the Biohealth Capital Region · BioBuzz". BioBuzz. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  6. "Alumni Profile: Reshma Kewalramani, MD". Boston University Medicine. Winter 2020: 33–34.
  7. "Boston University Medicine – Winter 2020". Issuu. January 2020. p. 33. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "About ASN - Reshma Kewalramani, MD, FASN". American Society of Nephrology. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  9. Albanese CB. "Career Briefs: Dr. Deepika Kalisetti Joins Commonwealth Health Physician Network". India West. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  10. Terry M (26 February 2018). "Vertex Pharmaceuticals Appoints Reshma Kewalramani as New CMO". BioSpace.
  11. "Vertex Appoints First Female CEO". BioSpace. 2019-07-29.
  12. 1 2 Feiger C (14 March 2024). "Vertex Is Writing A New Playbook For Pharma R&D. And It's Working". Forbes.
  13. Nadeem D (9 June 2021). "Vertex cystic fibrosis treatment gets U.S. nod for use in children aged 6-11". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2023-02-16.
  14. Kang J (2 January 2025). "FDA Approval Increases Eligibility for Cystic Fibrosis Medication Trikafta". Clinical Advisor.
  15. Choudhary V (10 March 2022). "Biotech Vertex Pharma Has a Blockbuster Drug That Rivals Envy". TheStreet.
  16. Liu A (23 December 2024). "Vertex wins FDA nod for once-daily cystic fibrosis triplet". www.fiercepharma.com.
  17. Lobo A (9 March 2025). "Alyftrek, triple-combination CF treatment, approved in UK". cysticfibrosisnewstoday.com.
  18. 1 2 Mullin E (23 December 2024). "The World's First Crispr Drug Gets a Slow Start". Wired.
  19. Garde D (11 June 2021). "A CRISPR treatment for blood diseases shows curative promise in small study". STAT.
  20. Sheridan C (21 November 2023). "The world's first CRISPR therapy is approved: who will receive it?" . Nature Biotechnology. 42 (1): 3–4. doi:10.1038/d41587-023-00016-6. PMID   37989785.
  21. Priyan V (24 June 2024). "Vertex's VX-880 shows promise in Phase I/II type 1 diabetes trial". Clinical Trials Arena.
  22. Branca M (25 June 2024). "Islet Cell Therapy Breaks Through: Three Patients Become Insulin Independent in Vertex Type 1 Diabetes Trial". Inside Precision Medicine.
  23. Pagliarulo N (22 March 2022). "Vertex plans path to FDA for top drug prospect". BioPharma Dive.
  24. Alvarado D (1 April 2024). "Vertex moves kidney disease drug into late-stage testing". BioPharma Dive.
  25. Goodman B (30 January 2025). "FDA approves first new type of pain medication in 25 years". CNN.
  26. Smith-Schoenwalder C (21 January 2025). "What to Know About Journavx, the Non-Opioid Pain Medication Just Approved by the FDA". US News.
  27. "Leadership". BSCP.com.
  28. "Giving/Board of Trustees". giving.massgeneral.org.
  29. "BUSM Dean's Advisory Board". bumc.bu.edu.
  30. Shetty R (3 August 2021). "Vertex CEO Dr. Kewalramani to Join Ginkgo Board". ginkgobioworks.com. Ginkgo Bioworks.
  31. "Year Up Appoints Three New Members to Its National Board of Directors". Year Up United. 11 February 2025.
  32. "Dr. Reshma Kewalramani named incoming president and CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, former member ASN KHI Board of Directors". Kidney News Online. 26 July 2019.
  33. Reporter IW. "TiE Boston Recognizes Entrepreneurs at 2019 Gala: Lifetime Achievement Award for Indian American edX CEO Anant Agarwal". India West. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  34. "Meet BBJ's Power 50: The region's most influential leaders". www.bizjournals.com. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  35. "2020 Indiaspora Business Leaders List". lists.indiaspora.org. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  36. Lee VS (2020). "100 People Transforming Business in North America". Business Insider.
  37. "PharmaVOICE 100 Who's on the List - By Category". PharmaVOICE. 1 August 2020.
  38. "Here are the BBJ's 2020 Women Who Mean Business honorees". Boston Business Journal. 15 October 2020.
  39. "NEC to Honor Historic All-Female Lineup of 2021 New Englanders of the Year". The New England Council. 2021.
  40. "The 2021 Top 100 Women-Led Businesses". Boston Globe. 5 November 2021.
  41. "Most Powerful Women". Fortune.
  42. "The 100 Most Influential People of 2025". Time. 2025.
  43. Kumar A (17 April 2025). "Reshma Kewalramani among 2025 Time 100 most influential people". americanbazaaronline.com.
  44. Vashistha A (17 April 2025). "Who is Reshma Kewalramani, the Indian-Origin biotech trailblazer on TIME's list?". India Today.