Top Industry Leaders Award Winner
E. Morrey Atkinson, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Operations Officer
Vertex
E. Morrey Atkinson, Ph.D.
Throughout his decades-long career in the biopharmaceutical
industry, Morrey has contributed his expertise in the development
and commercialization of multiple modality therapeutics across all
aspects of preclinical, clinical and commercial manufacturing
including small molecules, biologics and cell therapies. He joined
Vertex in 2020 and serves on the Executive Committee as Chief
Technical Operations Officer and Head of Biopharmaceutical
Sciences and Manufacturing Operations. In his role he oversees all
aspects of our preclinical, clinical and commercial
biopharmaceutical sciences, manufacturing operations and global
supply chain functions.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Indiana University
and his doctoral degree in biological sciences from Stanford
University. Prior to Vertex, Morrey was the Senior Vice President of
Global Manufacturing Operations at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS)
and was responsible for the global network of internal and external
manufacturing for BMS commercial products. He joined BMS in
2012 as the Vice President of Biologics Development and
progressed through various roles, including Vice President of
Biologics Manufacturing and the Integration Leader for
Manufacturing, Product Development and Cell Therapy during the
Celgene-BMS Integration. Prior to BMS, Morrey’s career included
various scientific and management roles of increasing responsibility
at Eli Lilly and Company, Cook Pharmica (now Catalent) and
Targeted Genetics Corporation.
Morrey serves on the board of directors for 89bio and is active in
advocating for LGBTQ+ equality, including serving on the National
Leadership Council for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education
Fund. In 2024, he was named to the Endpoints News LGBTQ+
Leaders in Biopharma list. He is the executive sponsor for Vertex
PRIDE, our employee resource network that supports, provides
visibility of, and celebrates our LGBTQ+ employees and allies.