A Virtual Conference

William Hobbs, MD, PhD
Vice President of Clinical Development for Hemoglobinopathies
Vertex Cell and Gene Therapy
Vertex Pharmaceuticals

William Hobbs is the Vice President of Clinical Development for Hemoglobinopathies in Vertex Cell and Gene Therapy (VCGT). This includes oversight of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing programs in clinical development for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia in collaboration with CRISPR Therapeutics. Dr. Hobbs is a hematologist and has been involved in clinical development for a number of hematology programs over his industry career including Eloctate and Alprolix for hemophilia as well as sutimlimab for cold agglutinin disease.  Dr. Hobbs was most recently the Global Program Head for Complement Biology Development at Sanofi, prior to joining Vertex in March 2020. Prior to that, Dr. Hobbs had roles of increasing responsibilities at Biogen and Bioverativ. Dr. Hobbs received his MD and PhD at the University of Pittsburgh, where his PhD studies focused on the regulation of viral gene expression in context of gene therapy vectors. Dr. Hobbs completed internal medicine and hematology/oncology fellowship training at the University of Washington, where he subsequently joined the Hematology Division faculty. Dr. Hobbs’ academic career included establishing and building the region’s first adult comprehensive sickle cell disease clinic program, as well as directing a basic science research laboratory focused on hemostasis/thrombosis and vascular biology. Dr. Hobbs is a recognized hematology expert and participates in hematology research review for the National Institute of Health, as well as in panel discussions on sickle cell diseases priorities for the FDA and CDC.