Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced the appointment of Michael J. Parini to the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. Mr. Parini will serve as a member of Vertex’s Executive Committee, reporting directly to Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D., Vertex's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Parini will begin his role with Vertex effective January 4, 2016.

Mr. Parini joins Vertex after more than a decade at Pfizer Inc., where he served in multiple leadership roles within the company’s global legal team. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel and was responsible for the strategic management of Pfizer’s global litigation activities, including civil, intellectual property, government and employment litigation. Mr. Parini also served as Chief Counsel for multiple key business units within Pfizer, advising Pfizer’s leadership team on key business issues related to investment decisions, patent disputes, global pricing strategies and commercial operations activities, among other responsibilities.

"Michael brings to Vertex extensive global legal experience related to the development and commercialization of multiple medicines,” said Dr. Leiden. “I welcome Michael to the Vertex team and believe his expertise will be invaluable as we bring our cystic fibrosis medicines to more people worldwide and advance key research and development programs across many diseases.”

"I’ve watched Vertex’s evolution over recent years and am thrilled to join this team at such an exciting and pivotal time in the company’s history,” said Mr. Parini. “I believe that Vertex is one of very few companies that has the potential to make a fundamental change in the treatment of many serious diseases, and I look forward to joining the team in January.”

Prior to Pfizer, Mr. Parini served as a health care attorney at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. where he provided legal counsel on federal and state regulatory and policy issues. He is a member of the New York and District of Columbia bars. He received a bachelor’s degree in American government from Georgetown University and his law degree from Georgetown University Law.

About Vertex

Vertex is a global biotechnology company that aims to discover, develop and commercialize innovative medicines so people with serious diseases can lead better lives. In addition to our clinical development programs focused on cystic fibrosis, Vertex has more than a dozen ongoing research programs aimed at other serious and life-threatening diseases.

Founded in 1989 in Cambridge, Mass., Vertex today has research and development sites and commercial offices in the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia. For six years in a row, Science magazine has named Vertex one of its Top Employers in the life sciences. For additional information and the latest updates from the company, please visit www.vrtx.com.

(VRTX-GEN)