CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced that Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D., has
been named to the Company's Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Cantley brings
more than 30 years of biomedical research experience to his new advisory role
at Vertex. Currently, Dr. Cantley serves as Chief of the Division of Signal
Transduction at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Harvard
Institutes of Medicine. In addition, Dr. Cantley is a member of the faculty
at the Harvard Medical School where he serves as a Professor of Systems
Biology.
"Dr. Cantley's groundbreaking work in signal transduction and kinase
pathway research has earned him great respect as an innovator and leader in
systems biology, and he will now bring this important perspective to the
Scientific Advisory Board at Vertex," said Mark Murcko, Ph.D., Chief
Technology Officer and Chairman of Vertex's Scientific Advisory Board. "Dr.
Cantley's expertise has broad applications to Vertex's drug discovery and
development efforts targeting signaling pathways."
Dr. Cantley's research has helped to foster a more comprehensive
understanding of how defects in cellular signaling pathways can lead to the
development of many serious human diseases. In 1985, Dr. Cantley led the
research team that discovered the phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway, a
biochemical signaling pathway that was ultimately found to be associated with
many cellular events including the development of cancer. His most recent
research has focused on how lipid and protein kinases control an array of
cellular functions, and how bioinformatics approaches can be used to identify
sites for protein modification and interaction and to predict the involvement
of key signaling pathways.
Dr. Cantley has served on the boards of many industry-leading
organizations and publications. Dr. Cantley was elected to the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999 and to the National Academy of Sciences
in 2001. He is an Associate Editor of Cell and is an Editor of the Journal of
Cell Biology. In addition to these roles, Dr. Cantley has been awarded
numerous prizes for his innovative research discoveries. Dr. Cantley was
awarded the Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research
in 2005, the Caledonian Prize from the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2002 and
the Heinrich Weiland Preis for Lipid Research in 2000.
About Vertex
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a global biotechnology company
committed to the discovery and development of breakthrough small molecule
drugs for serious diseases. The Company's strategy is to commercialize its
products both independently and in collaboration with major pharmaceutical
companies. Vertex's product pipeline is principally focused on viral
diseases, inflammation, autoimmune diseases and cancer. Vertex co-promotes
the HIV protease inhibitor, LEXIVA(R), with GlaxoSmithKline.
LEXIVA(R) is a registered trademark of the GlaxoSmithKline group of
companies.
Vertex's press releases are available at http://www.vrtx.com.
Vertex Contacts:
Michael Partridge, Director, Corporate Communications, (617) 444-6108
Lora Pike, Manager, Investor Relations, (617) 444-6755
Zachry Barber, Specialist, Media Relations, (617) 444-6470
SOURCE Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
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Related links:
http://www.vrtx.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/938395.html
CONTACT:
Michael Partridge, Director, Corporate
Communications, +1-617-444-6108, or Lora Pike, Manager, Investor
Relations, +1-617-444-6755, or Zachry Barber, Specialist, Media
Relations, +1-617-444-6470, all of Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Incorporated
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