Vertex Pharmaceuticals is set to build upon its success cystic fibrosis (CF) and its potential blockbuster Casgevy through its non-opioid pain and renal therapy pipelines, says CEO Reshma Kewalramani.
Speaking at the 2026 J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco on 12 January, Kewalramani said Vertex looks to capitalise on the success of its CF portfolio this year while growing its emergent franchises in pain and renal disease treatment. To this end, she recommitted to the company’s goal set out at the same conference in 2023 to achieve, “five launches in five disease areas over a five-year period”.
Central among these was the launch of Jounravx (suzetrigine), Vertex’s non-opioid pain medication approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for acute pain in January 2025. Kewalramani said the past year saw broad adoption of the drug, with contracts signed with the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) — CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx — as of 1 January 2026.
She therefore stated that Vertex aims to expand use of Jounravx from around 500,000 patients treated in 2025 to three times that number in 2026, a goal supported by a 50% increase in prescriptions between Q3 and Q4 of 2025. Two Phase III trials of Jounravx are now enrolling in diabetic peripheral neuropathy, for which Kewalramani said results are expected in 2027 (NCT07231419; NCT06628908).
In renal disease, she noted both Vertex’s tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor povetacicept and apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) inhibitor inaxaplin have received FDA breakthrough therapy designation for IgA nephropathy and APOL1-mediated kidney disease, respectively. Results for inaxaplin from a Phase III interim analysis cohort are expected in late 2026 or early 2027 (NCT05312879), while approval submission for povetacicept is expected in H1 2026.
In both disease areas, Kewalramani said Vertex seeks to replicate the success of its CF franchise through sustained, long-term investment and development. Now with five approved therapies in CF, she stated as many as 95% of patients could be eligible for one of Vertex’s CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) modulators, which have now gained coverage in over 60 countries.
Kewalramani also said the company looks to file for approval of its gene therapy Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel) for sickle cell disease (SCD) and beta-thalassaemia in children aged five to 11 this year. Having received a national priority voucher in November 2025, she speculated the drug could see rapid approval after filing in this setting. The gene therapy is already approved for SCD and beta-thalassaemia in children aged 12 and over.
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