Had you bought Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) shares 10 years ago, you'd be sitting pretty right now. The drugmaker soundly outperformed the market over that period thanks to its success in developing medicines that target cystic fibrosis. The first of Vertex's products to treat that rare genetic disease was approved in 2012.

Since then, it has added several more drugs and combination therapies for the disease to its portfolio. Importantly, Vertex markets the only approved medicines that address the underlying causes of cystic fibrosis. It's a lucrative market, so potential investors may wonder why other pharmaceutical companies haven't challenged Vertex Pharmaceuticals in it.

The answer to that question precisely highlights one of the key reasons to buy shares of this drugmaker.

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Source Fool.com