Joshua Boger
Joshua S. Boger (born April 12, 1951 in Concord , North Carolina ) is an American chemist and entrepreneur, the founder of Vertex Pharmaceuticals .
Joshua Boger studied at Wesleyan University from 1970 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1973 (receiving several prizes as a student at the same time) and at Harvard University with a master's degree in 1975 and a doctorate with Jeremy R. Knowles in 1979. As a postdoctoral fellow he was with Jean-Marie Lehn at the University of Strasbourg . From 1978 he was a research chemist at Merck Sharp & Dohne on the recommendation of Max Tishler , with whom he had already studied at Wesleyan University.
At Merck, he became an expert in rational drug design based on computer modeling of chemical structure. At first he worked on antihypertensive drugs ( renin inhibitors). In 1987 he became senior director of basic chemistry at MSD. In 1989 he founded Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., serving as its president, CEO and board member. The drugs developed there include amprenavir (with GlaxoSmithKline ), an HIV protease inhibitor and approved as a drug by the FDA in 1999 , telaprevir (a protease inhibitor used as a drug for hepatitis C and approved by the FDA in 2011) and Kalydeco (2012), a drug for cystic fibrosis . The beginnings of the drug were developed by Aurora Biosciences of San Diego, who had a contract with the nonprofit Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Vertex bought the company in 2001 and made the drug ready for the market.
In 2009 he stepped down as CEO at Vertex, but remained on the board of directors until 2017. In 2012 he became CEO of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, which develops drugs for Stargardt's disease .
He has produced over 50 scientific publications and holds 31 patents (as of 2016).
He is on the Board of Fellows at Harvard Medical School , the Board of Trustees at Wesleyan University (to which he donated approximately $ 20 million), and was Vice Chairman of the Boston Museum of Science . In 2018 he received the Othmer Gold Medal , in 2011 the Biotechnology Heritage Award and was inducted into the Biotech Hall of Fame in 2009 . He was founding director of the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation (NEHI, formerly New England Healthcare Institute) founded in 2002
His hobby is underwater photography. He is married to the pediatrician Amy Boger, who is also a ceramic artist.
literature
- Barry Werth: The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company's Quest for the Perfect Drug , New York: Simon & Schuster 1995 (on Vertex Pharmaceuticals)
- Barry Werth: The Antidote: Inside the World of New Pharma , Simon & Schuster 2014 (continuation of the Vertex story)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Laurie Kennie: Wesleyan Recognizes Boger Family's $ 20M Gift with Naming of Boger Hall , Wesleyan University Newsletter January 28, 2016
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Boger, Joshua |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Boger, Joshua S. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American chemist and entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 12, 1951 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Concord , North Carolina |