Vertex Appoints Michel Lagarde to its Board of Directors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced that Michel Lagarde has been appointed to its Board of Directors as an independent director. Mr. Lagarde is a senior health care and business leader with global expertise, currently serving as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Prior to Thermo Fisher, Mr. Lagarde served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Patheon, a contract manufacturer to the biopharma industry, and as a Managing Director at JLL Partners, a private equity firm investing in health care services.

“We are delighted to have Michel join the Vertex Board. His deep experience across numerous segments of the health care industry and markets around the world, as well as his successful track record of growing and scaling profitable businesses, will be valuable as Vertex continues to grow and expand across disease areas, therapeutic modalities and geographies,” said Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Chairman of Vertex.

“Vertex is at a very exciting time in its history as it builds on its success in cystic fibrosis using its serial innovation strategy,” said Michel Lagarde. “I am honored to join this Board and look forward to working with my fellow directors to help Vertex advance the development and commercialization of many more transformative medicines for the patients who are waiting.”

Prior to JLL, Mr. Lagarde spent 12 years at Philips, a global leader in health technology, in various finance roles across several international markets. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree from European University, Antwerp (Belgium) and an executive master’s degree in finance and control, from Maastricht Universiteit (the Netherlands).

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 multiple 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 clinical pipeline of investigational small molecule, mRNA, cell and genetic therapies (including gene editing) in other serious diseases where it has deep insight into causal human biology, including sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia, APOL1-mediated kidney disease, acute and neuropathic pain, type 1 diabetes and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

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. 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 13 consecutive years on Science magazine's Top Employers list and one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. 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.

(VRTX-GEN)