Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc. (Ginkgo) announced that Reshma Kewalramani, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and President at Vertex, will join its board of directors.
Ginkgo, which recently announced a business combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp., is building the leading horizontal platform for cell programming and serves customers across industries seeking to develop new and better products, the statement said.
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.
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.
“We are honored to have Dr. Kewalramani join our board of directors. We believe her significant experience driving innovation and growth will be invaluable as Ginkgo continues to expand its capabilities and partnerships within the pharmaceutical industry,” said Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO at Ginkgo Bioworks. “Dr. Kewalramani is also dedicated to developing and supporting the next generation of scientists, which is something that we hold dear at Ginkgo as well. Her deep industry expertise and alignment of values will be an excellent addition to our board.”
“I am excited to join Ginkgo’s board of directors at such a pivotal time for the company,” said Reshma Kewalramani, M.D., FASN, Chief Executive Officer and President at Vertex. “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 include Dr. Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks; Dr. Reshma Shetty, co-founder, President and Chief Operating Officer 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.
HrNxt.com Newsdesk has researchers and writers with an excellent domain knowledge about the talent ecosystem, and the business environment. The team keeps a tab on the latest happenings in the ecosystem to bring most relevant news and insights for our readers. You can connect with our newsdesk at newsdesk@hrnxt.com.