U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Litigation Release No. 18360 / September 24, 2003

, (United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No.
03-10297 (DPW) (D.Mass.)

U.S Attorney Files Criminal Insider Trading Charges Against Former
High-Ranking Attorney At Cambridge Biotech Company

   The Commission announced today that, on September 9, 2003, the U.S.
   Attorney for the District of Massachusetts filed a one-count
   Information charging Andrew S. Marks, of Wayland, Massachusetts, with
   unlawful insider trading in connection with his September 2001 sale of
   stock in Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Cambridge-based biotechnology
   company. The Information alleges that Marks, who at the time was
   Vertex's highest-ranking attorney, learned on September 20, 2001 that
   Vertex planned to announce the suspension of clinical trials of one of
   its promising drugs on September 24. According to the Information, on
   September 21, Marks liquidated all of his Vertex stock despite having
   previously acknowledged in writing that the impending release would
   not be viewed favorably by Wall Street and that he should not sell his
   Vertex shares.

   According to the Information, at the time he traded, Marks was the
   designated attorney for employees to contact regarding compliance with
   Vertex's employee securities trading policy. In that capacity, the
   Information alleges, Marks wrote Vertex's CEO an email on September
   20, advising him to make sure that an employee who had requested
   permission to trade had no knowledge of the impending press release.
   According to the Information, Marks' email went on to say

     . . . I guess I am troubled about any employee trading prior to
     that release because it is likely to have an effect on the stock
     (looks like I can't sell any shares) and, depending on the degree
     of that effect, could create the perception of insider trading. . .
     .

   The Information alleges that, on September 21, less than 24 hours
   after writing this email to the CEO, Marks sold 20,900 shares of
   Vertex at an average price of $22.81 per share, receiving $476,765.
   According to the Information, Marks traded in breach of a fiduciary
   duty not to trade in Vertex's stock while in possession of material,
   nonpublic information regarding Vertex. As a result of the conduct
   described in the Information, the U.S. Attorney has charged Marks with
   violating the antifraud provisions of federal securities laws, Section
   10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5
   thereunder.