David’s passion for human biology and therapeutic innovation has driven his 40-year career as a physician scientist. He joined Vertex in 2015 and leads internal research and external innovation, corporate data strategy, technology and data sciences. With the goal of discovering transformative medicines for the treatment of serious diseases, he developed and implemented our research strategy and is responsible for shaping the research pipeline. He serves as the executive sponsor for Vertex University. Before joining as Vertex’s Chief Scientific Officer, he served on the company’s board of directors from 2012 to 2014. 

Prior to Vertex, David was a Founding Core Member, Deputy Director and Chief Academic Officer at the Broad Institute of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was Professor of Genetics and Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Adjunct Professor of Biology at MIT and a physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He earned his bachelor’s degree in life sciences from MIT, his M.D. and Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard Medical School and completed his clinical training at MGH. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. 

David is actively involved in the medical and scientific community, including as chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the MGH Research Institute Advisory Council, the Science Review Board of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the board of directors of the Boston Museum of Science. He continues to teach students as a senior lecturer in genetics and medicine at MGH and Harvard.  

He has received numerous awards including the Curt Stern Award of the American Society of Human Genetics and the Outstanding Scientific Research Award of the American Diabetes Association. The Obama White House named him a Champion of Change for his leadership in creating and leading the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health. In 2021, he was named one of the Top 20 Most Influential R&D Executives in drug development by Endpoints News.

Dr. Leiden is a physician and scientist who has dedicated his career to improving the lives of people with serious diseases. He currently serves as our Executive Chairman and was our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman from 2012 through March 2020. He has been a member of our board of directors since July 2009, chairman of the board of directors since May 2012, and served as lead independent director from October 2010 through December 2011. Under his leadership, Vertex delivered the first and only medicines to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis for patients with certain forms of the disease including KALYDECO^®, ORKAMBI^® and TRIKAFTA^®.

As CEO, Dr. Leiden also built a robust pipeline of drug candidates in specialty markets, including pain, sickle cell disease and type 1 diabetes, with a particular focus on therapies that may cure or modify the course of disease. In 2015, he established a collaboration with CRISPR Therapeutics that led to the discovery and development of CASGEVY™, the first CRISPR/Cas9 gene-edited therapy approved for certain eligible people with sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia. In 2019, he led the Vertex acquisition of Semma Therapeutics to develop a clinical program to investigate what may be the first potentially curative stem cell-based therapy for type 1 diabetes.

During his tenure as CEO Dr. Leiden established a signature program at Vertex to enhance STEAM education among students in Vertex’s local communities, including an on-site Learning Lab, mentorship programs, internships and college scholarships. In 2017, Vertex announced a sustained corporate giving commitment of $500 million over the next 10 years, of which $50 million is focused on STEAM education.

Prior to joining Vertex, Dr. Leiden was a managing director at Clarus Ventures, a life sciences venture capital firm, from 2006 through January 2012. Dr. Leiden was President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of Abbott Laboratories, Pharmaceuticals Products Group, and a member of the board of directors of Abbott Laboratories from 2000 to 2006. At Abbott he led the development and commercialization of HUMIRA^® (adalimumab) and KALETRA® (lopinavir/ritonavir). From 1987 to 2000, Dr. Leiden held several academic and hospital appointments, including the Rawson Professor of Medicine and Pathology and Chief of Cardiology and Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of Chicago, the Elkan R. Blout Professor of Biological Sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. During his academic career, he was also involved in starting several biotechnology companies including Vical and Cardiogene. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

Dr. Leiden serves as lead independent director of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, as chairman of Odyssey Therapeutics, a privately held company developing novel medicines for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, and chairman of Casana, a privately held home health monitoring company. He is also a member of the MIT CEO Advisory Board and a director of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP). He is a member of the Massachusetts’ Governor’s Digital Healthcare Council, the Governor’s Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, and the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council.

Dr. Leiden previously held a number of industry board positions and was the former vice chairman of Shire plc and a director of PathAI, Millenium Pharmaceuticals, Quest Diagnostics, TAP Pharmaceuticals and Tmunity Therapeutics. He served as chairman of the MACP from January 2020 to December 2022 and was a member of the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows. Dr. Leiden received his M.D., Ph.D. and B.A. degrees from the University of Chicago.

Reshma is the Chief Executive Officer and President at Vertex, a Fortune 500, global biotechnology company. She trained in internal medicine and nephrology before entering the biopharmaceutical industry, where she has dedicated her career to discovering and developing new medicines. She joined Vertex in 2017, served as Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Global Medicines Development and Medical Affairs and became CEO in 2020. 

In this period, Vertex expanded its success in treating cystic fibrosis (CF) and gained landmark approvals for a CRISPR-based gene-edited therapy for certain eligible people with sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia. Building on that work, Vertex’s R&D pipeline has treatments in multiple disease areas, including pain, type 1 diabetes and multiple renal diseases, and across multiple modalities including small molecule, mRNA, cell and gene therapies. Since 2017, Vertex has more than doubled its employee base and the number of medicines it offers, significantly expanded its clinical-stage pipeline, and augmented its footprint in Boston’s Seaport and around the world. All the while, Vertex continues to foster its strong culture of belonging, diversity and equity. Continuing the tradition of excellence in the workplace, Vertex has consistently been recognized as a best place to work, including by Science magazine, The Boston Globe, and Fortune. 

Reshma is committed to supporting biomedical innovation, the next generation of scientists, and her community. She serves on Year Up's national board of directors, the Biomedical Science Careers Program’s board of directors, the Massachusetts General Hospital board of trustees and the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Dean’s Advisory Board.

She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and her fellowship in nephrology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital combined program. She received her medical degree, with honors, from the seven-year medicine program at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and is a Fellow of the American Society of Nephrology. She is an alumna of the Harvard Business School, having completed the General Management Program.   

Reshma has received a number of distinguished honors and awards for her leadership and contributions to science and innovation, including the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Boston University School of Medicine, the International Institute of New England Golden Door Award, the New England Council New Englander of the Year award, and the Asian American Business Development Center Pinnacle Award. She has been named one of Fortune's Most Powerful Women, one of Boston Business Journal's “Power 50,” one of Boston magazine's most influential Bostonians, a top CEO by Barron’s, and one of Business Insider's “10 People Transforming Healthcare.”