Geoffrey von Maltzahn

Geoffrey von Maltzahn joined Flagship Pioneering in 2009 and serves as general partner. He is an inventor, entrepreneur, CEO, and the co-founder of multiple groundbreaking companies in healthcare and agriculture.

Geoffrey has co-founded companies that have, in aggregate, achieved over $10 billion in public and private market capitalization. Through his role in Flagship Labs, the company’s innovation foundry, Geoffrey has created companies that include Tessera Therapeutics, Generate Biomedicines, Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ: SANA), and Indigo Agriculture. These are pioneering, respectively, gene writing, generative biology, the first microbiome therapeutics, engineered cells and cell-specific gene therapies, plant microbiome products for crop improvement, and amino acid-based drugs.

Geoffrey currently serves as chief executive officer and board director of Tessera Therapeutics, chief innovation officer and board director of Indigo Agriculture, and board director of Generate Biomedicines. He recently served as chief executive officer of Cobalt Biomedicine, which he led from inception to merger with Sana Biotechnology. Geoffrey also served as chief executive officer of Indigo, where he led the development of the company’s plant microbiome platform and the discovery of the company’s first commercial products: Indigo Cotton, Indigo Wheat, Indigo Corn, and Indigo Soy, which are now used on over a million acres. Previously, Geoffrey was the chief technology officer of Seres Therapeutics, where he led the discovery of SER-109, the first microbiome therapeutic to report positive phase 3 data, and built out the company’s discovery platform.

Geoffrey has deep expertise in genome engineering, the microbiome, bioengineering, and nanotechnology. He is listed as an inventor on over 200 patent applications and patents, and he has co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed articles. Geoffrey has received a number of awards and honors, including Bloomberg 50's Ones to Watch; Business Insider’s 30 Biotech Leaders Under 40; Endpoints 20 Biopharma Leaders Under 40; Boston Chamber of Commerce Ten Outstanding Young Leaders; the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize, awarded to the most innovative students at MIT; the National Inventors Hall of Fame Graduate Student Prize; the Biomedical Engineering Society Graduate Research Award; and the Harvard-MIT Martha Gray Prize. Geoffrey and his inventions have been profiled by Forbes, The Economist, CNN, Bloomberg Businessweek, Scientific American, Popular Science, MIT Technology Review, and other media.

Geoffrey was awarded a PhD in biomedical engineering and medical physics from MIT under the mentorship of Sangeeta N. Bhatia, MD, PhD; an MS in bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego; and an SB in chemical engineering from MIT.