Park

People:

David

Price,

Vertex

Pharmaceuticals

From tackling the root causes of serious diseases to pioneering new treatments, Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Senior Vice President David Price shares how game-changing innovation is thriving in our latest Park People interview.

Hi David! Please can you tell us a bit about Vertex Pharmaceuticals and its objectives?      

Vertex is a global biotechnology company investing in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious diseases. We are serial innovators; committed to developing medicines that treat the underlying cause of disease, not just the symptoms.   

We invest the majority of our resources into R&D and believe that the true value in our industry lies in scientific innovation. That’s where we focus our time, money and efforts. No matter the disease, our work is defined by a common strategy to understand and address causal human biology, with validated targets and biomarkers that translate from bench to bedside.       

What does your role as Vice President & Head of Oxford Research Site involve?   

As Oxford Research Site Head based at Milton Park, I am responsible for research programmes at the Oxford site, including scientific strategy and projects, development of a world-class scientific team and partnership across research, preclinical and pharmaceutical sciences to deliver potentially transformative drug candidates in line with our Global research strategy.  

What do you enjoy most about your role?    

One of the highlights of my role is leading and collaborating with world-class scientists who all share the same uncompromising commitment to the patients we serve. I’m proud to be part of a team that is pursuing cutting-edge research and dedicated to serial innovation.  

Another highlight of my role is seeing first-hand the positive impact our learning lab programme has had, it’s where we seek to inspire a new generation of scientists and support young people at a crucial stage of their education.

Are there any exciting projects or developments at Vertex you’re able to share?  

Firstly, I’m proud of the work Vertex has done in Cystic Fibrosis (CF), which is the exemplar of the success of our unique R&D strategy. The work is the result of more than twenty years of research and development. And, Vertex’s research in CF hasn’t stopped. We’ve set a high bar, and we will continue to push ourselves to find a solution that could work for all people with CF.   

I’m also excited by the clinical development pipeline that Vertex has built over the last five to ten years, with more than ten disease areas in clinical development. It’s also great to see our team here in Milton Park contribute to this pipeline through our cutting-edge research.  

What inspired you to pursue a career in pharmaceuticals?     

My passion for science led me to pursue a career in the industry, it’s been fascinating to witness the innovation that has happened over the years. Now at Vertex, I’m part of a team that is not deterred by what people might consider “impossible”, we continue to be motivated by our uncompromising commitment to patients, it’s what inspires our serial innovation.  

Have there been any particularly rewarding moments in your career so far?   

I’ve been privileged to work on many incredible programmes throughout my career. The research I pursued for my Ph.D. for example, was based on finding a potential treatment for HIV. This was an amazing learning experience for when I moved into the industry and then worked on the discovery of key molecules in the creation of treatments for HIV.  

At Vertex, our research has led to multiple potentially transformative medicines, however, our innovation is not limited to just our scientific strategy, we have innovated in the work we do locally and the learning lab continues to have a big impact on me.  

What excites you most about the future of Vertex or the pharmaceutical industry as a whole?   

Throughout my career, I have witnessed the rapid speed at which things can change in this industry and it’s been incredibly rewarding to be a part of it.  

At Vertex, we believe a deeper understanding of human biology, combined with innovative technologies, will lead to more potentially transformative therapies for people with serious diseases. 

What do you like most about being based at Milton Park?   

You can feel the excitement here at Milton Park, it has a collaborative spirit that fosters innovation.  

When you think of all the breakthroughs that have happened at Milton Park, it’s something all the organisations based here should be extremely proud of. We are proud to have a research site here. 

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