Launch pad for Vertex

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTX) has given itself about seven quarters of runway with its latest financing - last week's $400 million convertible note offering.

That could be enough to get the biotech through a launch of its HCV candidate telaprevir, which is slated for next year. Next quarter, Vertex plans to complete the submission of a rolling NDA to FDA for the small molecule HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitor...