Cambridge, Massachusetts-based life sciences firm Flagship Pioneering announced that Michael Severino, who will leave AbbVie on May 31, is joining Flagship as a CEO-Partner.
AbbVie_© AbbVie Inc. All rights reserved.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based life sciencesl firm Flagship Pioneering has been busy the last week, adding to its stable three biopharma executives with a wealth of experience. Today, the company announced that Michael Severino, who will leave his post as vice chairman and president of AbbVie on May 31, is joining Flagship as a CEO-Partner.
On April 11, Flagship brought on Michelle C. Werner as CEO-Partner of Flagship and CEO of Alltrna. Formerly, Werner was the worldwide franchise head of solid tumors at Novartis Oncology.
At the time, Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Flagship, said, “Michelle is the latest example of the growing number of highly skilled leaders joining Flagship Pioneering in this unique dual role, and I look forward to her contributions across the entire ecosystem.”
Alltrna is a Flagship company focused on tRNA biology to develop drugs to regulate “the protein universe and resolve disease.”
On April 7, Flagship announced that Margo Georgiadis was joining the company as CEO-Partner. Georgiadis is the former CEO of Ancestry.com. The announcement indicated she will be the CEO of a Flagship Pioneering company that is currently in stealth mode. She will also focus on what they’re dubbing “preemptive health and medicine,” in addition to using artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop therapeutics. Most recently, Georgiadis was an endurance partner in residence at venture capital firm General Catalyst.
“Margo is uniquely positioned to accelerate Flagship’s efforts to help transform the sick care system to a true health care system, and to help drive our company-building activities in this arena,” Afeyan said at the time.
Severino spent eight years with AbbVie, where he led the company’s efforts to build a strong pipeline in hematologic oncology, immunology, and neurosciences. Prior to joining AbbVie, Severino was senior vice president of global development and corporate chief medical officer at Amgen. Before that, he was a senior director at Merck & Co.
“Mike’s stellar leadership in biopharmaceutical strategy and R&D will be an excellent addition to Flagship and our ecosystem of companies, and I am pleased to welcome him to our team,” Afeyan said. “With a track record of developing innovative strategies, driving scientific, operational, and business excellence, and leading transformational change, Mike is an ideal fit for Flagship, where we invent, develop, and scale breakthrough innovations that improve lives.”
Severino said, “I am thrilled to take on this role and partner with the high-caliber team of world-class scientists, technologists, and business executives assembled by Flagship Pioneering. I look forward to applying my experience across all phases of drug discovery, development, and commercialization at Flagship, to help make an important difference for patients.”
Other recent appointments include Tom DiLenge as Senior Partner, Global Policy, Regulatory & Governmental Strategy. DiLenge was president of the Advocacy, Law & Public Policy Division of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) from 2016 to 2021.
In November 2021, Vaithianathan “Palani” Palaniappan, PhD., joined Flagship as chief technology officer of Pioneering Medicines. Prior to that, he was executive vice president and chief technology officer at Aruvant Sciences.
Also in November, Justine Levin-Allerhand, Ph.D., joined Flagship as a senior partner in Corporate Development. She was formerly with the Broad Institute, where she led the institute’s philanthropic and industry partnerships.
In September, Kathy Biberstein joined as General Counsel. She was previously general counsel at biotech company Ares-Serono International and in the life science law practice at Crowell & Morning.
And in June 2021, Dr. Stephen Hahn joined Flagship to lead its Preemptive Medicine and Health Security initiative as chief medical officer. He also joined the firm’s Senior Leadership Team. Dr. Hahn was Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2019 to 2021. Before joining the FDA, he was chief medical executive for the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
