After another solid year that included 12% growth in the top line, Vertex has bumped up its compensation for CEO Reshma Kewalramani, M.D., to $21.5 million, according to the company’s proxy filing.
The pay package, which is a 4% increase from her compensation the previous year, is particularly significant as Kewalramani is the lone female in an elite peer group: chief executives of biopharma companies that have a market cap of at least $100 billion.
Some of the others in the group who are guiding U.S. companies are in the $20 million club, including Eli Lilly’s David Ricks ($29.2 million), Pfizer’s Albert Bourla, Ph.D., ($24.6 million), Johnson & Johnson’s Joaquin Duato ($24.3 million) and Gilead Sciences' Daniel O’Day ($23.7 million).
Meanwhile, others such as Bristol Myers Squibb’s Chris Boerner (PDF) ($18.8 million) and AbbVie’s Rob Michael ($18.5 million) were not in the club in 2024.
Kewalramani, who took over as CEO in 2020 after serving as chief medical officer for two years, got high marks for Vertex’s commercial performance in 2024, which saw the company bring home just over $11 billion for the financial year.
“Notable achievements include over-achievement of our financial goals, including significantly increasing CF (cystic fibrosis) net product revenues, strengthening our balance sheet and continued delivery of strong operating margins,” wrote Vertex.
The company added that Kewalramani delivered “exemplary leadership” in the $4.5 billion acquisition of immunology and inflammation biotech Alpine Immune Sciences and orchestrating the new drug approvals for CF treatment Alyftrek and non-opioid pain reliever Journavx.
Kewalramani’s package included a $4.9 million performance bonus, which was up from $4 million in 2023. Her salary of $1.5 million and equity awards compensation of $15 million were also up slightly from the previous year.
Kewalramani’s pay has scaled up rapidly, from $15.2 million in her first full year in charge (2021), to $15.9 million in 2022 and $20.6 million in 2023.
Vertex’s other top execs also saw increases in their pay in 2024, including Chief Operating Officer Stuart Arbuckle, who collected $9.4 million; Chief Financial Officer Charles Wagner, who made $8 million; and Chief Scientific Officer David Altshuler, M.D., Ph.D., who received $7.6 million. New Chief Regulatory and Quality Officer Nia Tatsis, Ph.D., collected $7.3 million.