William has a BSc/ MSc in Bioprocess Engineering and has been in the Biopharmaceutical Industry for 15 years. He started his career as a Research Scientist at Ohio State University and moved into industry as an R&D Scientist in 2011. Before joining Vertex, William was highly successful in roles of increasing responsibility as a Bioprocess Engineer/ Scientist at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi Genzyme, where he supported the successful development and commercialization of several biologic-based medicines such as Orencia, Opdivo and Cerazyme. Since joining Vertex in 2021, William has made an enormous contribution to the successful approval and commercialization of CASGEVY, the world’s first CRISPR-based therapy approved to treat people with severe sickle cell disease (SCD) and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia (TDT). William works tirelessly every day to drive the manufacturing of this complex and novel therapy to ensure patients receive their treatment. William has also provided leadership for Vertex’s type 1 diabetes cell therapy program and is working to successfully commercialize that highly novel therapy.
William is Executive Director of Manufacturing Sciences and Techology (MS&T) Cell Therapy Process Sciences team. The team, which is comprised of approximately 30 highly skilled process scientists and engineers, provides technical oversight for manufacturing operations for the Vertex Cell and Genetic Therapy Manufacturing Network. This role is critical in ensuring that novel cellular and genetic therapies are manufactured successfully and to the highest quality standards. Given how novel these therapies are, a high level of technical oversight is required. William has an incredible depth of knowledge in these manufacturing processes and works very closely with the sites and cross-functional partners to resolve issues, implement improvements and provide technical assessments to support batch release. William is highly technical while being very pragmatic in his approach to drive to high quality and successful outcomes.