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Joshua Boger

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Josh Boger
Born (1951-04-12) April 12, 1951 (age 73)
Concord, North Carolina, U.S.
EducationWesleyan University (BA)
Harvard University (MA, PhD)
SpouseAmy Schafer
AwardsBiotechnology Heritage Award
Othmer Gold Medal
External videos
video icon “Joshua Boger '73: Cure Entrepreneur”, Wesleyan University, Apr 6, 2011
video icon “The Innovator's Business, Managing in Balance”, Joshua Boger, February 25, 2014

Joshua S. Boger (born April 12, 1951) is an organic chemist and the founder of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. He is considered a pioneer in the field of structure-based rational drug design. Drugs developed include amprenavir, an HIV protease inhibitor; telaprevir, a protease inhibitor for treatment of hepatitis C; and Kalydeco, for the treatment of cystic fibrosis. In 2003, Vertex was listed as one of forty worldwide Technology Pioneers by the World Economic Forum. As of 2012, Boger became executive chairman of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals.

Childhood

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Joshua S. Boger was born on April 12, 1951, in Concord, North Carolina[1] to Charles E. Boger, Jr., a textile chemist and Mary Snead Boger, an actress and writer.[2]

Education

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From 1970 to 1973, Boger attended Wesleyan University.[3] During this time Max Tishler, formerly the president of Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories, became Boger's mentor.[3][4] Boger received a bachelor's degree in chemistry and philosophy from Wesleyan in 1973.[5]

Boger then attended Harvard University, where he worked with Jeremy R. Knowles on the chemistry of cyclodextrin.[4] He received his master's degree in 1975 and doctorate degree in chemistry in 1979.[6] He did postdoctoral research in molecular recognition with Jean-Marie Lehn from the Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France.[7]

Career

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Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories

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On the recommendation of Max Tishler, Boger was hired by Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories in 1978. He initially worked on hypertension drugs,[3] developing a highly potent renin inhibitor.[8] An important step in this process was the application of computer modeling to the chemistry of drug design.[9]

Within 2 years, Boger was leading a group at Merck where he developed novel rational drug design techniques and applied them to pharmaceutical discovery and development.[10][11] By 1987 Boger became senior director of basic chemistry at Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories, in charge of the departments of Biophysical Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry of Immunology and Inflammation.[9]

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated

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In 1989, Boger founded Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. He has served variously as its president, CEO and chairman of the board.[12]

At Vertex, Boger pioneered an approach to structure-based rational drug design that changed the way that drug development occurred.[11][13] The analogy often used for structure-based design is that of a lock and key: first understand the type of lock involved, and then design a key to fit that lock. Researchers sought to understand the structure of the molecules that might affect disease processes (the "lock") and then to design drugs capable of interacting with the target molecules to alter their functions (the "key").[14] Employees worked in multi-disciplinary teams, combined technologies from biophysics, chemistry and computer science, and applied them to drug discovery[15] and the development of small molecule drugs.[16] As of 2003, Vertex was listed as one of forty worldwide Technology Pioneers by the World Economic Forum, for advancing drug discovery through this approach.[15]

While under Boger's leadership, the company worked on several potentially valuable drug treatments. Agenerase (amprenavir), an HIV protease inhibitor, was co-developed by Vertex and GlaxoSmithKline for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and approved by the FDA in 1999.[17] A second related drug was submitted for approval in 2002.[18] Lexiva (fosamprenavir) was approved by U.S. regulators on October 20, 2003.[19]

Vertex also developed Telaprevir, a protease inhibitor for treatment of hepatitis C.[20] Telaprevir works by disabling a protein that the virus requires for replication. Scientists at Vertex first published the crystal structure for the protease of the hepatitis C virus in 1996.[21][22] As part of the development process for the drug, the company developed an elaborate systems biology model in which they modeled hepatitis C's dynamics to the level of individual patient response.[23] Telaprevir was approved by the Food and Drug Administration as Incivek in May 2011.[24]

A third product, an orally administered pill for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, grew out of the acquisition of Aurora Biosciences Corporation by Vertex in 2001. The San Diego research company had a contract with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a nonprofit for patient advocacy and research, to create an assay for the disease. After the acquisition, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation approached Vertex about expanding the contract to search for a drug treatment. The potential market for such a drug was small, unlikely to return a profit. The problem required a new approach: finding a way to turn on a non-functioning protein. Boger's decision to investigate a new area has been treated as a case study by the Harvard Business School. It is one of the first examples of venture philanthropy funding, in which a charity buys equity in a company, which then tries to solve a specific problem for them. Vertex has since developed several possible drugs for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, the first of which was Kalydeco in 2012.[25][26]

Boger retired as CEO of Vertex as of May 23, 2009,[27] but remained on the Vertex Board of directors until June 2017.[28] The history of Vertex has been chronicled by journalist Barry Werth in The Billion-Dollar Molecule (1995)[9][3] and The Antidote.[29]

Alkeus Pharmaceuticals

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In May 2012 Boger became executive chairman of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals.[5] Alkeus is developing a possible drug treatment for Stargardt disease, a progressive genetic condition that is a major cause of juvenile macular degeneration.[30][4]

As of 2014, Boger was the author of over 50 scientific publications and held 32 issued U.S. patents.[9]

Philanthropy

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Boger is a founding director and chairman of NEHI (Network for Excellence in Health Innovation),[31] established in 2002.[32] He is a founding director and vice-chairman of the Alliance for Business Leadership (formerly the Progressive Business Leaders Network), established in 2006.[33][34][35] Boger is a member of the board of fellows of the Harvard Medical School.[6]

Boger is an advocate of liberal education who has been strongly involved with his alma mater, Wesleyan University.[36] Boger became a member of the board of trustees of Wesleyan University as of 1999, and chairman of the board of trustees as of 2009.[5] On his retirement from the board of trustees in 2016, he and his family donated $20 million to Wesleyan, over half of which established an endowed scholarship program.[36]

“In an age of instant information access, the core skills for the 21st century are information curation, critical analysis, and cross-discipline integration. Increasingly, it is apparent that needed progress in complex fields like healthcare innovation requires balance and judgment across technical, social and political areas."

Boger has been the chairman of the board of directors of the Celebrity Series of Boston.[37] Boger has also served as the vice-chairman of the Boston Museum of Science.[1]

He supports a variety of progressive and social justice causes, including the Greater Boston Food Bank.[38][39] With Paul Sagan he has funded the Massachusetts' ACLU Technology for Liberty & Justice for All initiative.[40] He has been honored by the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action of Boston for his activities.[1]

Photography

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In 2000, Boger combined his interests in scuba diving and photography by photographing the coral reefs off Wakaya Island near Fiji. By 2014, he was showing his underwater photography in one-man gallery shows.[41][42] A permanent exhibit of 22 photographs, “Wakaya Octocorals and Giants,” is on display at the Exley Science Center at Wesleyan University.[36]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Barth, Sheila (December 18, 2013). "Behind the Museum of Science". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Mary Snead Boger". Charlotte Observer. May 9, 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d Werth, Barry (1995). The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company's Quest for the Perfect Drug. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0671510572.
  4. ^ a b c Valigra, Lori (June 1, 2012). "Joshua Boger: Seeking a cure for childhood blindness". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Beals, Shawn R. (January 28, 2016). "Wesleyan Receives $20 Million Donation From Trustees Chairman". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Success breeds success for Harvard Program in Therapeutic Science". Harvard Medical School. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Global Youth Summit on the Future of Medicine Joshua Boger, PhD, MA". Brandeis University. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  8. ^ Williams, Michael; Malick, Jeffrey B. (1987). Drug discovery and development. Clifton, N.J.: Humana Press. ISBN 978-0-89603-108-1.
  9. ^ a b c d "Josh Boger speaks at Innovator's Business Series on "Managing in Balance"". Bentley University. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  10. ^ Fried, Stephen (1998). Bitter pills : inside the hazardous world of legal drugs. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-10383-0. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  11. ^ a b Hubbard, Roderick E. (2006). Structure-based drug discovery : an overview. Cambridge: RSC. p. 17. ISBN 978-0854043514. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Joshua S. Boger Ph.D." Bloomberg L.P. (U.S.). Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  13. ^ Olson, Steve; Claiborne, Anne B. (2012). Maximizing the impact of the Cures Acceleration Network : accelerating the development of new drugs and diagnostics : workshop summary. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. ISBN 9780309261166.
  14. ^ Eban, Katherine (March 13, 2014). "What ails Big Pharma". Fortune. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  15. ^ a b c "The Impact of Innovation Technology Pioneers 2003" (PDF). APAX Partners. World Economic Forum. p. 29. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  16. ^ Wolff, George (2001). The biotech investor's bible. New York, NY [u.a.]: Wiley. ISBN 978-0471412793. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  17. ^ "A company timeline It's been a long road from start-up to verge of FDA approval". Boston Globe. April 24, 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  18. ^ "Vertex Pharmaceuticals Announces Submission of NDA/MAA Filings in U.S. and Europe for GW433908 (new formulation of Agenerase [amprenavir]) for Treatment of HIV Infection". December 20, 2002. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  19. ^ Richwine, Lisa (October 20, 2003). "US clears GlaxoSmithKline, Vertex AIDS drug". Reuters. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  20. ^ Johnson, Carolyn Y. (April 24, 2011). "On the long, hard road to a breakthrough". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  21. ^ Kim, J.L; Morgenstern, K.A; Lin, C; Fox, T; Dwyer, M.D; Landro, J.A; Chambers, S.P; Markland, W; Lepre, C.A; O'Malley, E.T; Harbeson, S.L; Rice, C.M; Murcko, M.A; Caron, P.R; Thomson, J.A (October 1996). "Crystal Structure of the Hepatitis C Virus NS3 Protease Domain Complexed with a Synthetic NS4A Cofactor Peptide". Cell. 87 (2): 343–355. doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81351-3. PMID 8861917. S2CID 14785240. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  22. ^ McBride, Ryan (August 4, 2010). "How Eli Lilly Let a Billion-Dollar Molecule Slip Away and Make a Fortune for Vertex". EXOME. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  23. ^ Proffitt, Allison (May 9, 2008). "Joshua Boger: Predicting Patient Response". BIO-IT World. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  24. ^ Pollack, Andrew (May 23, 2011). "Second Drug Wins Approval For Treatment of Hepatitis C". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  25. ^ Seiffert, Don (2016). "How a $500K contract turned Vertex into a $30 billion drugmaker". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  26. ^ Crabtree, Penni (October 21, 2005). "Poised to be a star Cystic fibrosis project has San Diego unit of Vertex on verge of a treatment". U-T San Diego. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  27. ^ Timmerman, Luke (February 5, 2009). "Vertex CEO Josh Boger Retiring In May; Matthew Emmens To Fill Role". EXOME. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  28. ^ "Dr. Joshua Boger". The Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  29. ^ Werth, Barry (December 23, 2014). The Antidote: Inside the World of New Pharma. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781451655674.
  30. ^ "Joshua Boger Joins Alkeus Pharmaceuticals" (PDF). Alkeus Pharmaceuticals. May 23, 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  31. ^ Drake, Olivia (March 16, 2007). "New Science Center Gets Boost from Trustee, Wife". Wesleyan University. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  32. ^ Boger, Joshua (May 7, 2007). "Building on a system of outreach, collaboration". Boston Globe. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  33. ^ Leung, Shirley (October 16, 2013). "Emerging from the crowd". Boston Globe. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  34. ^ Fiztgerald, Jay (April 20, 2012). "Left leaning business group adopts new name, broader mission". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  35. ^ "Board of Directors". The Alliance for Business Leadership. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  36. ^ a b c Kenney, Laurie (January 28, 2016). "Wesleyan Recognizes Boger Family's $20M Gift with Naming of Boger Hall". Wesleyan University.
  37. ^ "Boards of Directors and Overseers". Celebrity Series of Boston. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  38. ^ "Executives and Board". The Greater Boston Food Bank. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  39. ^ Ball, Patrick (May 3, 2013). "Photo of the Day: Concord Residents Co-Chair Greater Boston Food Banquet". Concord Patch. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  40. ^ "ACLU of Massachusetts Announces Technology for Liberty & Justice for All Initiative". ACLU. March 12, 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  41. ^ Timmerman, Luke (January 6, 2014). "Josh Boger Finds Beauty Off the Coast of Fiji, in Life After Vertex". EXOME. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  42. ^ Seiffert, Don (October 31, 2014). "Vertex founder displays underwater photography at MassBio". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  43. ^ "Othmer Gold Medal". Science History Institute. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  44. ^ "Meet the BBJ's Innovation All-Stars of 2015". Boston Business Journal. October 29, 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  45. ^ "Biotechnology Heritage Award". Science History Institute. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  46. ^ "Joshua Boger Awarded 2011 Biotechnology Heritage Award". Chemical Heritage Foundation. 28 June 2011. Archived from the original on July 12, 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  47. ^ "New Inductees to The Biotech Meeting Hall of Fame Announced". Market Wired. October 7, 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
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