Vertex Doubles the Number of ‘All in for CF Scholarships’

Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced it will double the number of “All in for CF Scholarships” this year to help more people with cystic fibrosis (CF) and their families. This increase in number of scholarships, the company said, is due to the positive response the program received last year when it was first launched.

This year, the program will award 80 scholarships of $5,000 each, to help fund CF patients and their immediate family members in the pursuit of 2-year, 4-year, or graduate degrees during the 2018-2019 academic year. The program is designed to help entire families not only by helping people with CF pursue their academic goals, but also their caregivers, siblings, and children to do so.

Applications for the scholarships will be accepted until Jan. 3, 2018. They will then be reviewed by an independent committee and the results will be announced in May 2018. Applications may be made online.

“At Vertex, our passion is fueled by the hope and courage of the CF community, which is clearly reflected in each All in for CF scholar,” Jeffrey Leiden, MD, PhD, Vertex chairman, president and CEO, said in a press release. “We are pleased to be able to expand this program to help even more people with CF and their families pursue their academic and professional goals.”

The ALL in for CF program helps people with CF lead active lives and pursue higher education, but also funds independent research and innovative patient centric programs.

“Receiving this scholarship shows how we are not letting an illness get the best of us; it shows how we are choosing to see the positive in the negative,” said Lila Buchanan, an All in for CF scholar, whose mother lives with CF and who lost an aunt and an uncle to the disease.

The All in for CF Scholarships program is part of Vertex’s recently announced 10-year, $500 million corporate giving commitment to provide patient and caregiver support by offering access to the company’s treatments, and expand education in STEAM — science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

Vertex has a number of approved CF therapies, including Kalydeco (ivacaftor) and Orkambi (ivacaftor/lumacaftor), and a clinical CF development program.