

Noubar Afeyan
Founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering and biotech entrepreneur (co‑founder of Moderna) who spoke about making entrepreneurship more scientific and systematic.
Top 10 podcasts with Noubar Afeyan
Ranked by the Snipd community

254 snips
Oct 31, 2025 • 19min
The Best of 2025 (So Far) with Sarah Guo and Elad Gil
Winston Weinberg, CEO of Harvey, shares insights on using GPT-3 for legal workflows, showcasing practical AI in legal reasoning. Dr. Fei-Fei Li, a renowned AI researcher, discusses the complexities of spatial intelligence and its impact on design. Noubar Afeyan, founder of Flagship Pioneering, reflects on making entrepreneurship a systematic and scientific endeavor. Together, they explore the future of AI, its societal implications, and the ongoing transformation across various industries.

124 snips
Feb 27, 2025 • 41min
Building the Platform for Scientific Breakthrough, with Noubar Afeyan of Moderna and Flagship Pioneering
Noubar Afeyan, Co-founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering and a key figure behind Moderna, shares his insights on fostering scientific breakthroughs. He discusses the challenges of navigating regulatory terrain and the urgency of innovation in healthcare. Noubar explores the vital role of AI in medicine and reflects on lessons learned from pandemic responses. He introduces his innovative concept of polyintelligence, emphasizing collaboration between human, nature, and machine intelligence for future discoveries.

109 snips
Dec 4, 2025 • 29min
Future of Business: Moderna’s Founder on Innovation That Breaks Through
Noubar Afeyan, an entrepreneurial biochemical engineer and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, shares insights on fostering breakthrough innovation. He distinguishes between continuous and discontinuous innovation, emphasizing the need for different organizational structures to support disruptive ideas. Afeyan discusses the role of AI in idea generation and warns that experts often overlook next-gen innovations. He advocates for open exploration and highlights how anti-science sentiments threaten the regenerative advantages of a nation. His approach is rooted in evolutionary principles for innovation.

8 snips
Jul 10, 2025 • 1h 31min
How AI will accelerate biomedical research and discovery
Daphne Koller, CEO of InCitro, Noubar Afeyan, founder of Flagship Pioneering, and Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, explore the revolutionary impact of AI in biomedical research. They discuss AI's role in accelerating drug target identification and transforming biotech R&D. Exciting advancements include a promising ALS drug target and the vision of creating a virtual cell within a decade. The trio emphasizes AI's potential in personalized medicine and the significance of embracing skepticism in innovation.

5 snips
Apr 14, 2022 • 19min
Building a Company that Builds Companies
Noubar Afeyan is the co-founder of Moderna and the founder of Flagship Pioneering. His problem: How do you turn the chaotic hero's journey of entrepreneurship into a repeatable, systematic process? Noubar created Flagship Pioneering to solve the problems he saw with entrepreneurship. Flagship's mission: To create new companies in a systematic, repeatable way. On today's show, Noubar explains how that system led to the creation of Moderna, a company that developed a COVID vaccine and saved millions of lives. If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts, be sure to subscribe to our email list. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

5 snips
Oct 11, 2021 • 1h 6min
Moderna and Flagship Pioneering: Noubar Afeyan
Noubar Afeyan, co-founder and chairman of Moderna and founder of Flagship Pioneering, shares his journey in biotechnology. He discusses the ten-year timeline and risks of developing life-saving treatments and reflects on how Moderna quickly created a COVID-19 vaccine amidst a global crisis. Afeyan recounts his family's escape from Lebanon and how that shaped his entrepreneurial spirit. He emphasizes the importance of innovation and mentorship in biotech, highlighting Moderna's groundbreaking use of mRNA technology and the creation of multiple startups under Flagship Pioneering.

Sep 23, 2021 • 21min
The Innovation System Behind Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine
Noubar Afeyan, cofounder of Moderna Therapeutics and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, shares insights into the innovative processes that led to the Covid-19 vaccine. He discusses the concept of 'emergent discovery,' emphasizing the importance of working back from future ideals and fostering unconventional ideas. Afeyan highlights how cultivating a supportive culture can transform daring thoughts into groundbreaking innovations. He also explores the integration of mRNA technology and AI, showcasing their potential to reshape various industries.

Jan 12, 2026 • 18min
SF Healthcare Week: Flagship Pioneering's Founder Noubar Afeyan shares his thoughts on the image of science in the United States today, biotech's roller coaster 2025, mRNA, AI, and more
Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of Flagship Pioneering and a pivotal figure in Moderna, shares his insights on the importance of defending the scientific method in today’s society. He emphasizes the need to engage the public in science through compelling narratives. Afeyan dives into the transformative potential of mRNA technology, its delivery innovations, and the resurgence of biotech investing post-pandemic. Additionally, he discusses Flagship's investments in AI and the future of scientific research, highlighting the intersection of technology and biology.

Aug 9, 2022 • 1h 13min
Noubar Afeyan | Co-Founder of Moderna & CEO of Flagship Pioneering
Noubar Afeyan, Co-Founder of Moderna & CEO of Flagship Pioneering, discusses growing up in war-torn Lebanon, the purpose behind his work in developing healthcare innovations, the challenges of developing mRNA technology, philanthropy and supporting refugees, the concept of making leaps of faith, and the influence of family and belief systems on success.

Jan 13, 2021 • 56min
Noubar Afeyan on the Permission to Leap
Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of Moderna and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, is a biomedical innovator and philanthropist. He shares insights on the 'paranoid optimism' that fuels his entrepreneurial spirit, shaped by his Armenian-American heritage. Afeyan discusses the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine and the balance of corporate responsibility in biotech. He also explores the future of gene editing, the importance of a diverse culture in innovation, and the impact of his classical pianist mother on his life. His reflections on ethical decision-making and the role of immigrants in shaping America are equally captivating.


