Flagship Pioneering Founder and CEO Noubar Afeyan has been behind the launch of dozens of companies, some of which, such as Moderna, have become a household name across the globe.
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Flagship Pioneering Founder and Chief Executive Officer Noubar Afeyan has been behind the launch of dozens of companies, some of which, such as Moderna, have become a household name across the globe. Over the years, Afeyan’s approach to starting companies has been driven by his need to answer questions that could potentially change the world through scientific discovery.
In 2020, most of the world came to learn of the use of messenger RNA (mRNA) as a therapeutic thanks to the development of two COVID-19 vaccines that use that technology, one from Moderna and the other from Pfizer and BioNTech. More than a decade ago, Afeyan pondered the potentials of mRNA as the basis for treating certain diseases. It’s that quest for answers that has led not only to the success of Moderna, but of Flagship Pioneering itself.
In a recent interview with Forbes, Afeyan outlined his ideas for entrepreneurship and used Flagship’s more than $17 billion in assets to fund ideas that have the potential to change the world.
“Every one of our companies is born to aspire to what Moderna has done. Why wouldn’t you think you can actually change the world?” Afeyan told Forbes.
As he continues to examine scientific pathways and technologies that companies can be built upon, according to Forbes, the driving factors for Afeyan are those what-if questions. Calling it “parallel entrepreneurship,” Afeyan said he draws a circle around what is currently being done in therapeutic spaces and then draws a “bigger circle” around adjacent thought.
“What’s outside that is where people think it is reckless to work,” he told Forbes.
It’s in that reckless area that Afeyan said the biggest breakthroughs could happen. It’s this zone that Flagship aims to explore and fill. Given the breakthroughs with mRNA for the COVID-19 vaccines, Afeyan will likely be encouraged to dive even harder into this reckless zone to discover and develop new therapies.
Afeyan’s goal is simple—finance the startup of multiple companies that can potentially shake the scientific pillars of the earth. But Afeyan explained that it’s not about starting one or two companies a year to meet that goal. He’d rather launch six or more each year. This year alone, Flagship has been behind the launch of Alltrna, the first transfer RNA (tRNA) platform company formed to unlock tRNA biology and pioneer tRNA therapeutics, and Inzen Therapeutics, which was formed to develop medications based on a new pathway called Thanokine Biology, which was discovered by Flagship scientists, and Laronde, which was formed to pioneer new eRNA-based medications. Additionally, Flagship forged a partnership with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and closed its $3.37 billion Fund VII, which will help launch companies developing next-generation therapeutics and support agri-bio endeavors.
Afeyan takes a hand in founding the Flagship companies and continues to play a role in several of them, such as Moderna, where he sits on the board of directors. Forbes noted that he also holds board positions on six other Flagship companies.
