It was 1988. An 11-year-old girl from Mumbai arrived in Long Island, USA, with her parents. Their belongings were few, but their dreams were many. The family settled in a small apartment. The girl’s name was Reshma Kewalramani. Today, Reshma is the first female CEO and president of a major public biotech company in the US. Recently, the prestigious Time magazine named her “Time Woman of the Year 2026” and included her in the list of the 100 most influential people of 2025. Under Reshma’s leadership, Vertex’s market value has grown significantly. When Reshma became CEO in April 2020, the company’s market cap was approximately $69 billion. Now, it has nearly doubled to $120 billion (approximately Rs 11 lakh crore). She joins luminaries like Mukesh Ambani, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sundar Pichai on the list of influential global figures by magazines like Fortune and Time. Time magazine wrote: “Reshma’s story is a living example of the ‘American Dream.'” Reshma’s journey wasn’t easy. Her father opened a small clothing and electronics store in Manhattan, New York. Reshma would often sit at the counter there, interacting with customers, and in the evening, she would tally the day’s earnings with her father. She was once afraid of rats. In an interview, she said, “In our family, career options were limited—engineer, doctor, or priest. I chose medicine.” In 1998, she graduated with highest honors from Boston University. She became a kidney specialist and began researching at institutions affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Reshma often shares an interesting anecdote about her journey: her biggest fear during lab research was rats. She jokingly says this fear contributed to her career change. A phone call changed everything. In 2004, she received an offer from Amgen Biotech. The opportunity was in the research and development department in California. The decision was difficult because her entire family and six-month-old twin sons were in Boston. Taking a risk, she and her husband left their previous jobs and moved to California. Reshma worked at Amgen for 12 years, rising to Vice President. These three achievements of Reshma’s have taken the biotech industry to new heights: 1. Cystic fibrosis: The average life expectancy of patients suffering from this deadly lung disease, which was previously 27 years, is now estimated to exceed 70 years thanks to Vertex’s drugs. 2. Gene editing: Vertex secured approval for the world’s first gene-edited therapy, Casgevi. It is effective in curing diseases like thalassemia at the genetic level. 3. Solution to addiction: In January 2025, Reshma secured approval for a painkiller that is not opiate-based. It is being considered a solution to addiction.
