Shares in Boston’s Vertex Pharmaceuticals are up 22% to $109 after the biotechnology company released data on an experimental combination pill to treat cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that shortens patients’ lives by affecting their lungs and digestive systems. That gives the biotech a market capitalization of $27 billion.
“To me, this is really unprecedented innovation,” says Jeffrey Leiden, Vertex’s chief executive. Vertex has had 10 positive late-stage trials in cystic fibrosis in five years, and if approved this new medicine will be the third it has brought to market. “To me, that’s an amazing story. It’s one of the things I’m proudest of about the company.”
