I’m thrilled to announce that Reshma Kewalramani, M.D., FASN, Chief Executive Officer and President at Vertex, will join Ginkgo’s board of directors.
Dr. Kewalramani has dedicated her career to improving the lives of patients, including the last fifteen years working on the development of new medicines. She joined Vertex in 2017 and was previously their Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Global Medicines Development and Medical Affairs. During that time, Vertex made remarkable progress to bring new medicines to more cystic fibrosis patients around the world, including the rapid approval of medicines to potentially treat up to 90% of all CF patients. Under her leadership, Vertex also advanced several programs outside of CF into the clinic, including programs in cell and gene therapies. Prior to Vertex, Dr. Kewalramani spent more than 12 years at Amgen where she held a variety of roles across Research and Development.
We believe Dr. Kewalramani’s significant experience in innovation and growth in the pharmaceutical industry will be an invaluable addition to our own growth as we expand our capabilities and partnerships in the industry. Likewise, as we expand our team, we believe Dr. Kewalramani’s dedication to developing and supporting the next generation of scientists will be beneficial to all Ginkgo team members.
Dr. Kewalramani is a member of the Massachusetts General Hospital Board of Trustees, the Biomedical Science Careers Program Board and the Boston University School of Medicine Dean’s Advisory Board. She was the 2019 recipient of the TiE Boston Healthcare Leadership Award and the 2021 recipient of the International Institute of New England’s Golden Door Award.
Dr. Kewalramani shared these words when I asked about why she is looking forward to joining the board: “I am excited to join Ginkgo’s board of directors at such a pivotal time for the company. Ginkgo has built a unique and innovative company over the past thirteen years, and I am particularly excited by the company’s broad platform which holds the potential to meaningfully transform multiple fields from agriculture to energy to life sciences. I’m looking forward to working with the Ginkgo team to build out these capabilities even further as they navigate their next stage of growth.
Dr. Kewalramani plans to join as the eighth board member for Ginkgo Bioworks. Current board members in addition to myself include Dr. Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks; Marijn Dekkers, founder and chairman of Novalis LifeSciences LLC; Christian Henry, President and CEO of Pacific Biosciences; and Shyam Sankar, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Palantir. Dr. Kewalramani plans to join the board immediately after the close of Ginkgo’s business combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp., along with Harry Sloan, Chairman and CEO of Eagle Equity Partners II, LLC and Dr. Arie Belldegrun, MD, FACS, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Allogene Therapeutics.
