Flagship Pioneering Announces Appointment of Dr. Luciano Rossetti as New Chief Medical Officer

Industry veteran will also serve as the first Head of R&D for the company’s Pioneering Medicines Initiative

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., November 16, 2020 -- Flagship Pioneering, a unique life sciences innovation enterprise, today announced that it has strengthened its executive leadership team with the appointment of Luciano Rossetti, MD, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) as well as the company’s first Head of Research & Development (R&D) for its newly formed initiative Pioneering Medicines. He will begin his new role on January 1, 2021.

Dr. Rossetti comes to Flagship after completing a six-year tenure as Global Head of Research & Development at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, during which he led the R&D organization’s rigorous pipeline prioritization; delivered global therapeutic approvals across several cancer indications and in multiple sclerosis; and played a leading role in establishing and directing global strategic alliances. He previously served as Merck & Co. Senior Vice President late stage clinical development and before that was in charge of end-to-end R&D strategy across all therapeutic areas as head of Global Scientific Strategy. Prior to joining Merck & Co. in 2006, Dr. Rossetti spent 18 years in academic medicine as Professor of Medicine and Molecular Pharmacology and leader of the Diabetes Research & Training Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is the author of more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications in leading journals.

“I am delighted to announce the appointment of Luciano Rossetti to Flagship Pioneering’s newly created dual leadership roles as Head of R&D for Pioneering Medicines (PM) and Chief Medical Officer for Flagship Pioneering,” said Noubar Afeyan, PhD., Founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering. “Luciano brings deep experience in global clinical development to Flagship: he will provide expert advice and direction on clinical assets and play a pivotal role in ensuring R&D and clinical operations excellence across the Flagship ecosystem.”

In his role as CMO of Flagship Pioneering, Dr. Rossetti will be deeply engaged in the science and capabilities of the platforms within the Flagship ecosystem and help shape the company’s overall clinical portfolio.

“I am looking forward to joining Flagship Pioneering, a proven engine for breakthrough innovation in life sciences and medicine,” said Dr. Rossetti. “Since my first interactions with the Flagship team and ecosystem of companies during my Merck and Co. days nearly a decade ago, I have been impressed with their leadership team’s creativity and results. I am confident that I can contribute to furthering the translation of the new technologies and scientific breakthroughs made within Flagship Labs into clinical development studies that ultimately result in transformative medicines.”

As head of R&D for Pioneering Medicines, Dr. Rossetti will support Flagship Pioneering’s Executive Partner, Paul Biondi and the Pioneering Medicines Leadership Team in conceiving and building a portfolio of unique medicines sourced from the broad spectrum of scientific platforms within the Flagship ecosystem of companies. He will also play a key role in strategic planning and business development and integrate R&D functions to ensure the development of innovative, efficient and safe medicines.

Pioneering Medicines is a newly formed initiative dedicated to conceiving and developing an innovative pipeline of first-in-category therapeutic products that leverage Flagship’s platform companies and extend beyond the programs its companies develop on their own.

“Luciano brings a tremendous breadth of experience in biopharmaceutical R&D and academia to Pioneering Medicines and he will be instrumental in realizing our mission to build a portfolio of life-enhancing medicines for patients that complements those of our platform companies,” said Paul Biondi, Flagship Pioneering Executive Partner.

About Luciano Rossetti

Dr. Rossetti comes to Flagship after finishing a six-year tenure as Global Head of Research & Development at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. During this period he led the R&D organization’s rigorous pipeline prioritization; delivered global therapeutic approvals across several cancer indications and in multiple sclerosis; and played a leading role in creating and directing global strategic alliances. He previously served as Senior Vice President, late stage clinical development at Merck & Co., Kenilworth, N.J., USA, and before that was in charge of end-to-end R&D strategy across all therapeutic areas as head of Global Scientific Strategy.

Before joining Merck & Co. in 2006, Dr. Rossetti had an illustrious career in academic medicine for more than 18 years, including 15 years at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in the Bronx, New York, where he was Professor of Medicine and Molecular Pharmacology. During his tenure at Einstein, he was the recipient of the 2000 Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award from the American Diabetes Association, authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications in leading biomedical journals, and was elected as a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and of the American Association of Physicians (AAP).

About Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category life sciences companies to transform human health and sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, the firm has applied a unique hypothesis-driven innovation process to originate and foster more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in over $34 billion in aggregate value. To date, Flagship is backed by more than $4.4 billion of aggregate capital commitments, of which over $1.9 billion has been deployed toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $10 billion of follow-on investments from other institutions. The current Flagship ecosystem comprises 41 transformative companies, including Axcella Health (NASDAQ: AXLA), Codiak Biosciences (NASDAQ: CDAK) Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI), Evelo Biosciences (NASDAQ: EVLO), Foghorn Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FHTX), Indigo Ag, Kaleido Biosciences (NASDAQ: KLDO), Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Rubius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RUBY), Sana Biotechnology, Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), Sigilon Therapeutics, and Syros Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SYRS).