Vertex’s market-cap doubled in 5 years to Rs 11 lakh crore: The company achieved success under the leadership of Mumbai’s Reshma, she is included among the 100 powerful women of the world.

Reshma Kewalramani was sometimes afraid of rats. Under his leadership the world’s first gene-editing drug was prepared. – file photo

It is the year 1988. An 11-year-old girl from Mumbai reached Long Island in America with her parents. There was less stuff, more dreams. The family started living in a small apartment. The name of the girl was Reshma Kewalramani. Today Reshma is the first woman CEO and President of a large public biotech company in America.

Recently, the prestigious ‘Time’ magazine has selected her as ‘Time Woman of the Year 2026’ and she is also in the list of 100 most influential personalities of 2025. Under Reshma’s leadership, Vertex’s market value has increased significantly. When Reshma became CEO in April 2020, the company’s market cap was around $69 billion. Now it has increased almost two times to about 120 billion dollars (about Rs 11 lakh crore). He features in the list of influential global personalities of magazines like Fortune and Time along with stalwarts like Mukesh Ambani, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai.

Time magazine wrote: ‘Reshma’s story is a living example of the ‘American dream’.’ This journey of Reshma was not easy. His father started a small clothing and electronics store in Manhattan, New York. Reshma would often sit at the counter there and talk to the customers and in the evening would keep track of the day’s earnings with her father.

I was once afraid of rats.

He had said in an interview, ‘There were limited career options in our family – engineering, doctor or priest. I chose medicine.’ Graduated from Boston University with highest honors in 1998. Became a kidney specialist. Started doing research in institutions associated with Harvard Medical School. Reshma often shares an interesting anecdote on her journey that her biggest fear during research in the lab was rats. She jokingly says that this fear also contributed to her career change.

One phone call changed everything

In the year 2004, he got an offer from Amgen Biotech Company. This opportunity was in the Research and Development department in California. The decision was difficult because his entire family and six-month-old twin sons were in Boston. Taking a risk, she and her husband left their old jobs. Moved to California. Reshma worked at Amgen for 12 years and rose to Vice President.

These three achievements of Reshma gave new heights to the biotech industry.