BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced that Carmen Bozic, M.D., has been appointed as the company’s Executive Vice President, Global Medicines Development and Medical Affairs. Dr. Bozic will assume the additional role of Chief Medical Officer on April 1, 2020 when Reshma Kewalramani, M.D., the company’s current Chief Medical Officer, becomes President and Chief Executive Officer of Vertex. Dr. Bozic has served as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Development since May of this year.
Vertex also announced the appointment of Nia Tatsis, Ph.D., currently Vertex’s Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs, as Senior Vice President, Chief Regulatory Officer, effective immediately.
“The addition of Carmen and Nia to Vertex’s executive team further strengthens our leadership ranks as we work towards completing our CF journey and bringing new therapies into the clinic in a variety of new disease areas,” said Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vertex.
Dr. Bozic received her M.D. and completed her residency in Internal medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and then completed a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Since joining Vertex, she has been leading Clinical Development of the company’s cystic fibrosis and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency programs, as well as leading Clinical Operations across the pipeline, among other areas. Prior to joining Vertex, Dr. Bozic spent more than 20 years at Biogen, including as Senior Vice President, Global Development. During her tenure at Biogen, she led multiple functions, including Global Clinical Development, Safety, Preclinical Safety, Regulatory, Clinical Operations and Biometrics.
“I am thrilled to take on the leadership of Vertex’s talented Global Medicines Development and Medical Affairs team at such an exciting time for the company,” said Dr. Bozic. “Vertex advanced its cystic fibrosis portfolio through the clinic with unprecedented speed and purpose, and now has seven potential therapies in the clinic with the opportunity to transform the treatment of patients with other serious diseases.”
Dr. Tatsis received her Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Vermont and holds a B.S. in Biology from Temple University. She was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Wistar Institute and has held positions of increasing responsibility at pharmaceutical companies including Sanofi, Pfizer, and Wyeth prior to joining Vertex in 2017. Most recently, she was Vice President, Head of Global Regulatory Affairs of the Sanofi Genzyme Business Unit focused on Immunology, Rare Diseases, Multiple Sclerosis and Oncology.
“Vertex is a company that is relentlessly focused on scientific innovation and bringing transformative advances in medicine to patients with serious diseases,” said Dr. Tatsis. “We have an outstanding regulatory team and I am honored to lead them in this role as we work to deliver on our mission and strategy.”
About Vertex
Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious diseases. The company has three approved medicines that treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (CF) — a rare, life-threatening genetic disease — and has several ongoing clinical and research programs in CF. Beyond CF, Vertex has a robust pipeline of investigational medicines in other serious diseases where it has deep insight into causal human biology, such as sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia, pain, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and APOL1-mediated kidney diseases.
Founded in 1989 in Cambridge, Mass., Vertex’s global headquarters is now located in Boston’s Innovation District and its international headquarters is in London, UK. Additionally, the company has research and development sites and commercial offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Latin America. Vertex is consistently recognized as one of the industry’s top places to work, including nine consecutive years on Science magazine’s Top Employers list and top five on the 2019 Best Employers for Diversity list by Forbes. For company updates and to learn more about Vertex’s history of innovation, visit www.vrtx.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram.
Vertex Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, the statements in the first, third, fifth, and seventh paragraphs of this press release. While Vertex believes the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are accurate, there are a number of factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Those risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks listed under Risk Factors in Vertex’s annual report and quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Vertex disclaims any obligation to update the information contained in this press release as new information becomes available.
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