Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated ·VRTX

COO and CFO combined into a single powerful role

Health Care · Fortune #385 · Functional structure · 6K employees · Boston, Massachusetts

View as of:
6
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 9)
1
Avg span
tight
2
Max depth
2 levels
5.2 yr
Avg tenure
stable vs FY2024
50%
Internal hires
near industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-12-31 · 10-K
Revenue
$12.0B
Operating income
$4.2B
Net income
$4.0B
Total assets
$25.6B
Shares out
254M

Sourced from Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated DEF 14A · filed 2026-04-02 ↗ View on SEC

Interactive org chart

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated organizational chart

Explore the executive structure, reporting layers, and scenario-ready operating model from public filings.

Open editable chart

Vertex combines COO and CFO authority in a single executive reporting to the CEO, creating an unusually centralized functional structure for a $12B biotech. This page details its leadership team, reporting lines, recent changes, and peer comparisons.

What to model

Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines

Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.

Latest signal David Altshuler departed as EVP & Chief Scientific Officer

Announced retirement effective August 1, 2026.

Source · See change log

Scenario views in the chart

  • Re-separate COO and CFO roles Splitting operations from finance would reduce span of control and rebalance enterprise oversight as Vertex scales.
  • CSO Retirement and Succession David Altshuler’s retirement could trigger a reallocation of scientific authority or elevation of a next-generation CSO.

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The people

Who's running this

7 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.

internal

Reshma Kewalramani

President & Chief Executive Officer

Executive

6 yr

6 reports

internal

Charles F. Wagner, Jr.

EVP, Chief Operating and Financial Officer

Operations & Finance

1 yr

0 reports

Carmen Bozic

EVP, Chief Medical Officer

Clinical & Medical

3 yr

0 reports

internal

Amit Sachdev

EVP, Chief Patient and External Affairs Officer

External Affairs

10 yr

0 reports

Nia Tatsis

EVP, Chief Regulatory and Quality Officer

Regulatory & Quality

6 yr

0 reports

David Altshuler

EVP, Chief Scientific Officer

Research

11 yr

0 reports

Joy Liu

EVP, Chief Legal Officer

Legal

4 yr

0 reports

The pay

Executive compensation

From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 1 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.

Reshma Kewalramani $21.1M
Base salary
$1.60M
Stock awards
$15.00M
Non-equity incentive
$4.12M
Other
$423K
Fiscal year
FY2025
Source
SEC DEF 14A ↗

The businesses

How Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated divides the work

3 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.

Research & Discovery

2K employees

EVP, Chief Scientific Officer (David Altshuler)

Leads discovery science and early research across Vertex’s therapeutic pipeline.

Clinical & Medical

2K employees

EVP, Chief Medical Officer (Carmen Bozic)

Oversees clinical development, operations, safety, and biometrics.

Operations & Finance

1K employees

EVP, Chief Operating and Financial Officer (Charles F. Wagner, Jr.)

Manages finance, HR, facilities, communications, and enterprise operations.

The thesis

Why this org is unusual

Vertex’s most distinctive structural feature is the consolidation of COO and CFO responsibilities into a single executive role held by Charles F.

Wagner, Jr. This concentrates enterprise-wide operational, financial, HR, communications, and program management authority under one leader reporting directly to the CEO.

The structure is otherwise classically functional, with major scientific, medical, regulatory, and external affairs leaders reporting directly to the CEO. This design reflects Vertex’s strategy of tight executive oversight across R&D, clinical development, and commercialization rather than semi-autonomous divisions.

The upcoming retirement of the long-tenured Chief Scientific Officer introduces a potential inflection point, as scientific leadership succession will materially affect how discovery and development authority is distributed going forward.

  • COO and CFO roles combined
  • Highly centralized functional leadership
  • Impending CSO retirement

The comparison

How Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated stacks up

Compared with large-cap biotech peers such as Amgen and Gilead, Vertex is more centralized, with fewer layers and no separate divisional presidents. Many peers separate the CFO and COO roles; Vertex’s combination is relatively uncommon at its scale. Unlike companies such as Regeneron or Bristol Myers Squibb, Vertex …

C-suite size

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
7
Amgen
10
Gilead Sciences
9
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
8
Biogen
9

Reporting depth

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
2 levels
Amgen
5 levels
Gilead Sciences
5 levels
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
4 levels
Biogen
5 levels

Avg C-suite tenure

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
5 yr
Amgen
6 yr
Gilead Sciences
5 yr
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
9 yr
Biogen
4 yr

Has COO / Has CAIO

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated — no COO — no CAIO
Amgen ✓ COO — no CAIO
Gilead Sciences ✓ COO — no CAIO
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals — no COO — no CAIO
Biogen ✓ COO — no CAIO

Current signals

What changed recently

Vertex consolidated COO and CFO authority under Charles Wagner following Stuart Arbuckle’s retirement.

  • departed
    David Altshuler EVP & Chief Scientific Officer

    Announced retirement effective August 1, 2026.

    Source
  • departed
    Stuart A. Arbuckle EVP & Chief Operating Officer

    Retired effective July 1, 2025.

    Source
  • promoted
    Charles F. Wagner, Jr. EVP, Chief Operating and Financial Officer

    Assumed expanded COO responsibilities on July 1, 2025.

    Source

Leadership Timeline

Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.

FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2026-04-02
CEO
Reshma Kewalramani
CEO span
6
C-suite
6
Avg tenure
5.2 yr

First year with combined COO/CFO role.

Named executive officers (5)
  • Reshma Kewalramani - CEO since 2020
  • Charles F. Wagner, Jr. - COO & CFO since 2025
  • Carmen Bozic - Chief Medical Officer since 2022
  • Amit Sachdev - Chief Patient and External Affairs Officer since 2015
  • Nia Tatsis - Chief Regulatory and Quality Officer since 2020
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2025-04-01
CEO
Reshma Kewalramani
CEO span
7
C-suite
7
Avg tenure
6.1 yr

Separate COO and CFO roles.

Named executive officers (3)
  • Reshma Kewalramani - CEO since 2020
  • Charles F. Wagner, Jr. - CFO since 2018
  • Stuart A. Arbuckle - COO since 2012

Year-over-year changes

FY2024 → FY2025

Vertex collapsed COO and CFO roles following the COO’s retirement.

  • CEO span: 7 → 6
  • C-suite size: 7 → 6
  • Avg tenure: 6.1 → 5.2 yr
  • reorg Charles F. Wagner, Jr. - COO & CFO (was CFO) (DEF 14A filed 2026-04-02)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals?

Reshma Kewalramani has served as President and CEO since 2020.

What type of organizational structure does Vertex Pharmaceuticals use?

Vertex operates a centralized functional structure led by enterprise-wide executives.

How many direct reports does Vertex Pharmaceuticals's CEO have?

The CEO has six direct reports as of 2026.

How has Vertex Pharmaceuticals's leadership changed recently?

In 2025, the COO retired and COO responsibilities were combined with the CFO role.

Does Vertex Pharmaceuticals have a COO?

Yes, but the COO role is combined with the CFO position under Charles F. Wagner, Jr.

Sources

  • 8-K Filing, Aug 4 2025
  • DEF 14A, Apr 2026
  • SEC EDGAR: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated DEF 14A Proxy Statement
  • SEC EDGAR: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated 10-K Annual Report

Reference

Cite this page

If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.

APA 7th
Creately. (2026). Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/vertex-pharmaceuticals/
MLA 9th
"Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/vertex-pharmaceuticals/. Accessed .
Chicago 17
Creately. "Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/vertex-pharmaceuticals/.
Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. DEF 14A. Filed 2026-04-02. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/875320/000087532026000153/vrtx-20260402.htm

Permanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/vertex-pharmaceuticals/ · last updated 2026-04-01

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