WILMINGTON, Del., and BOSTON — October 5, 2026 — The GlomCon Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization advancing education and research in glomerular and rare kidney diseases, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced that Vertex has joined the REIGNITE Study (Real-world Evidence of IGA Nephropathy to Investigate Therapeutic Effectiveness) as a funding collaborator. REIGNITE is a multi-year, longitudinal registry that aims to improve understanding of treatment patterns in patients with IgA nephropathy and assess long-term health outcomes. The registry aims to enroll more than 6,000 patients with IgA nephropathy.

IgA nephropathy is the most common primary glomerulonephritis worldwide and a leading cause of progressive kidney disease, including among younger adults. Despite recent therapeutic advances, including approved therapies targeting the upstream immune drivers of disease, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding how patients with IgA nephropathy progress in real-world clinical practice, how care varies across centers and regions, and how contemporary therapies, whether used in sequence, combination, or in isolation, translate into long-term kidney health. REIGNITE is designed to address these questions at a scale and breadth not previously available in IgA nephropathy.

“The IgA nephropathy landscape has advanced considerably in recent years, reflecting a growing understanding of the disease and renewed focus on improving outcomes for people living with IgAN. As the field continues to evolve, real-world evidence will be critical to understanding how disease progression, treatment patterns and long-term kidney outcomes are reflected in clinical practice,” said Carmen Bozic, M.D., Executive Vice President, Global Medicines Development and Medical Affairs, and Chief Medical Officer at Vertex.  “Through our collaboration with GlomCon and the REIGNITE Study, we are investing in research that can deepen understanding of IgA nephropathy and help build on the meaningful progress being made for people living with this chronic, progressive kidney disease.”

Through this collaboration, GlomCon's global network of nephrology experts and established real-world evidence research platform will be combined with Vertex's commitment to advancing care for people with serious diseases, including IgA nephropathy. Vertex's support will help expand the reach and depth of REIGNITE, allowing investigators to assess changes in kidney function and key indicators of kidney damage as well as other important health outcomes over time and to describe the use of key medications in a contemporary cohort of patients with IgA nephropathy.

“The strength of a registry like REIGNITE grows with every partner who shares our commitment to answer important questions for patients with IgA nephropathy,” said Michael Walsh, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, GlomCon Foundation. “Vertex's collaboration will help us capture clinical and biopsy findings, treatment use, and kidney and safety outcomes across an even broader international network of nephrology centers. We are deeply grateful to Vertex for joining this effort and for their shared commitment to the patients we serve.”

REIGNITE enrolls both children and adults with biopsy-confirmed IgA nephropathy and is designed to capture longitudinal outcomes across a representative real-world patient population, including subgroups underrepresented in clinical trials. The registry will make data available to the broader nephrology research community to support independent research and inform clinical decision-making across the field. To learn more about the REIGNITE Study, visit www.glomcon.org/reignite.

About the REIGNITE Study

REIGNITE (Real-world Evidence of IgA Nephropathy to Investigate Therapeutic Effectiveness) is an international, longitudinal, multi-center registry of children and adults with biopsy-confirmed IgA nephropathy. Using serial chart reviews of routinely collected health data, the study will characterize variation in kidney function, disease progression, treatment use, and clinical outcomes. A broad network of nephrology centers across the U.S. and Canada is conducting the registry in collaboration with the GlomCon Foundation and its funding collaborators, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated.

Interested in becoming a REIGNITE study center? Please contact the REIGNITE team at research@glomcon.org.

About GlomCon Foundation

The GlomCon Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, is a global leader in providing medical education and fostering research collaboration in glomerular diseases. Since its inception in 2016, GlomCon has grown into a renowned global consortium with more than 18,000 weekly newsletter subscribers, weekly clinical and scientific conference attendees from over 132 countries, and certificate training programs for nephrologists and nephropathologists interested in glomerular disease subspecialty training and research. GlomCon's multi-site real-world evidence study group is pursuing some of the largest observational history and registry studies in rare glomerular diseases. The GlomCon Foundation is making this data platform available to clinicians and researchers interested in developing their own independent registry or observational study.

About Vertex

Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious diseases and conditions. Vertex was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Boston, with an international headquarters in London. The company also has research and development sites and commercial offices in North America, Europe, Australia, Latin America, and the Middle East. For company updates and to learn more about Vertex's history of innovation, visit www.vrtx.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X.