Reshma Kewalramani is notably the only person of Indian descent in the list this year.
New York: Reshma Kewalramani, the Indian-origin CEO of US-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals, has been named on the list of "100 Most Influential People" of 2025 by Time magazine. Born and brought up in Mumbai, Kewalramani made headlines in 2020 when she became the first woman to head a major publicly traded biotech firm in the United States. Her groundbreaking work has placed her at the forefront of innovation in genetic medicine.
Under her leadership, Vertex achieved a significant breakthrough by earning FDA approval for the first-ever CRISPR-based therapy, a revolutionary treatment for sickle cell disease that corrects the DNA mutations at the heart of the condition.
Kewalramani shifted to the US along with her family when she was 11-years-old. In 1998, she completed Boston University's seven-year liberal arts/medical education programme. After that, she enrolled in a nephrology fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital joint programme. In 2015, she received her degree from Harvard Business School's General Management Program.
She started her career as a physician and worked at well-known hospitals such as Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and also at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and MIT. Later, she entered the biopharma sector and worked for Amgen for over 12 years.
Kewalramani began working for Vertex Pharmaceuticals in 2017 and rose to the position of Chief Medical Officer in 2018. In 2020, she was promoted to the position of President and CEO. She currently serves on the Vertex Board of Directors as well.
Since she has been at the helm of affairs in Vertex, the company has grown massively, developing new treatments, including Trikafta, a major drug to treat a serious genetic disease called cystic fibrosis. The company has developed VX-147, an experimental drug being tested to treat a type of kidney disease caused by a faulty APOL1 gene.
Kewalramani has also been honored with several awards, including the International Institute of New England's Golden Door Award and the Hope Visionary Award. She was also named one of Boston Business Journal's Power 50 in 2019 and a New Englander of the Year by the New England Council in 2021.
