Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX): $366.54
Market Cap: $96.31B
Enterprise Value: $85.81B
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) is the longest-held position in our model portfolio, which is fascinating considering investing in biotech companies has always been out of our circle of competence. The company first came to our attention in November 2020 when an independent director, Bruce Sachs, purchased 15,000 shares at an average price of $217.36 for $3.26 million. This purchase was especially unique – not just because it had been nearly twelve years since Mr. Sachs’ last purchase of Vertex during the Great Recession in 2008. Instead, a subscriber had sent in an anecdote about Mr. Sachs, which we wrote about in our article The Story of Two Briefcases Bruce:
At the time of his purchase, Mr. Sachs had been serving on Vertex’s board for nearly 22 years. He had also been a general partner at early stage venture capital firm Charles River Ventures (CRV) for 21 years. CRV was founded in 1970 to commercialize research that came out of MIT.