VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS

Founded in 1989 by current Chairman, President, and CEO Joshua Boger, Ph.D, Vertex has more than 1,200 employees across three research and development sites in Cambridge, Massachusetts; San Diego, California; and Oxford, United Kingdom.

Goals

• To build a major drug company through the development and commercialization of both Vertex-driven products and products developed in collaboration with major pharmaceutical companies.

• To identify more efficiently promising drug candidates that address significant unmet medical needs.

Lessons Learned for Alliance Partners

Coordinating partner (customer)

• Provide intellectual incentives for partner.

• Avoid harsh or inappropriate acquisitiveness.

• Listen, and welcome new ideas or approaches.

• Be patient, and expect to walk before running.

• Explicitly define (and quantify) any dissatisfactions.

• Do not assume anything about the partner.

• Find the right balance of parallel and serial actions.

• Meet the partner team and maximize face-to-face communications.

• Be aware that sometimes it really is best to let partners do it their way.

Executing partner (vendor)

• Allow no internal commercial conflicts.

• Solve operational problems with confidence.

• Communicate troubleshooting strategies.

• Strive to demonstrate wise independence.

• Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions.

• Don’t be afraid to suggest changes or innovations.

• Remember execution problems are yours to solve.

• Constantly inquire to recalibrate partner priorities.

• Listen for when partners really must have it done their way.

Cross-cutting

• Be honest and aware of your own strengths and weaknesses.

• Understand your partner’s culture and personality.

• Adapt your communication style to the partner’s personality.

• Define roles and metrics of success clearly and explicitly.

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