Dr. Stephen Hahn, 24th US FDA Commissioner and Former Chief Medical Executive at MD Anderson, joins Flagship Pioneering as Chief Medical Officer of Flagship's Preemptive Medicine and Health Security Initiative

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Jun 14, 2021, 19:52 ET

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Flagship Pioneering, the bioplatform innovation company, announced today that Stephen Hahn, M.D. will help lead its Preemptive Medicine and Health Security initiative as Chief Medical Officer, and join Flagship's Senior Leadership Team, effective June 16, 2021. Dr. Hahn served as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner from 2019–2021. Prior to joining the FDA, he was the Chief Medical Executive, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

During his time as the 24th Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Hahn led the 17,000+ person agency that regulates approximately 20 percent of consumer spending in the United States. He oversaw both COVID and non-COVID regulatory affairs, including therapeutics and vaccine development, devices, diagnostics, and clinical trials.

"The COVID-19 pandemic brought into stark focus how important it is to bring increased attention and investment to our health security globally, and to preemptive medicine more broadly," said Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering. "We are delighted that Flagship will benefit from Steve's clinical and administrative leadership in helping us dimension and pursue our growing number of explorations and companies in this emerging field."

"The importance of investing in innovation and preemptive medicine has never been more heightened," said Dr. Stephen Hahn, former U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner. "In my career I have been a doctor and a researcher foremost and it is an honor to join Flagship Pioneering in its efforts to prioritize innovation, particularly in its Preemptive Medicine and Health Security Initiative. The more we can embrace a "what if …" approach the better we can support and protect the health and well-being of people here in the US and around the world."

About Dr. Stephen Hahn

Stephen Hahn, M.D., joins Flagship Pioneering following two decades of distinguished leadership in healthcare strategy, clinical experience, and commercialization know-how.

Dr. Hahn, a well-respected oncologist, served as chief medical executive in 2018 at the world-renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston prior to his FDA appointment. He was named deputy president and chief operating officer in 2017. In that role, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the cancer center, which includes managing more than 21,000 employees and a $5.2 billion operating budget. He was promoted to that position two years after joining MD Anderson as division head, department chair, and professor of Radiation Oncology. Prior to MD Anderson, Dr. Hahn served as head of the radiation oncology department at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine.

A 1980 Rice University graduate, Dr. Hahn grew up in the Philadelphia area. He earned his medical degree at Temple University and was an internal medicine resident at the University of California San Francisco before completing a fellowship and residency at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. He joined the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine as an assistant professor in 1996 and rose to chair its radiation oncology department from 2005.

About Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category bioplatform companies to transform human health and sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, the firm has, through its Flagship Labs unit, applied its unique hypothesis-driven innovation process to originate and foster more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in over $90 billion in aggregate value. To date, Flagship has deployed over $2.4 billion in capital toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $19 billion of follow-on investments from other institutions. The current Flagship ecosystem comprises 41 transformative companies, including Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI), Indigo Ag, Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Rubius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RUBY), Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ: SANA), Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), and Valo Health.

SOURCE Flagship Pioneering