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Noubar B. Afeyan, Ph.D., Chairman, Ensemble Therapeutics – Managing Partner and CEO, Flagship
Ventures
Noubar Afeyan is Managing Partner and CEO of Flagship Ventures, a firm he co-founded in 2000. He is also a Senior Lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management where he has taught the MBA program’s primary entrepreneurship course since 2000. Dr. Afeyan has authored numerous scientific publications and patents since earning his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from MIT in 1987.
A technologist, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Dr. Afeyan has co-founded and helped build over 20 successful life science and technology startups during the past two decades. He was founder and CEO of PerSeptive Biosystems (Nasdaq: PBIO), a leader in the bio-instrumentation field. After PerSeptive's acquisition by Applera Corporation (NYSE: ABI), he was Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Applera, where he initiated and oversaw the creation of Celera Genomics (Nasdaq: CRA).
Currently Dr. Afeyan serves on a number of public and private company boards. He is a director and co-founder of Flagship portfolio companies Affinnova, BG Medicine, Ensemble Therapeutics, Helicos BioSciences (NASDAQ:HLCS), Joule Unlimited and LS9, and is on the board of Eleven Biotherapeutics. Previously he was a member of the founding team, director and investor in several successful ventures including Chemgenics Pharmaceuticals, Color Kinetics, Antigenics, EXACT Sciences and Adnexus Therapeutics.
Dr. Afeyan is a member of several advisory boards including the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT, the Whitehead Institute at MIT, the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), the SKOLKOVO School of Management in Moscow and the Board of Overseers of Boston University. He is also a member of the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Afeyan is co-founder and board member of Armenia 2020 and the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, two international economic development projects focusing on the former Soviet Republic of Armenia. In 2008 he received an Ellis Island Medal of Honor, an award granted to outstanding Americans who have distinguished themselves as U.S. citizens and who have enabled their ancestry groups to maintain their identities while becoming integral parts of American life.
Douglas G. Cole, M.D. – General Partner, Flagship Ventures
Doug joined Flagship in 2001 where he focuses on Life Science investments. He came to Flagship with significant industrial experience and a strong academic background. He obtained post-graduate training in medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD and in neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. In 1992, Doug was appointed Instructor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant in Neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He established a research program investigating the mechanistic basis of neuronal signaling events and plasticity in neuro-psychiatric disorders with the support of the NIH and several non-profit research foundations. Doug holds an AB magna cum laude with High Distinction in English from Dartmouth College, where he was a Senior Fellow and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and an MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha.
In 1996, Doug joined Cytotherapeutics, in Providence, RI. As Medical Director he oversaw various research and clinical activities related to the company’s cell-based therapeutic technologies. In 1997, he was appointed Program Executive at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in Cambridge, MA, where he led a multidisciplinary program that conducted preclinical development through Phase II studies in tissue protection and repair, oversaw an international research collaboration, and was responsible for identifying strategic market and technology opportunities in multiple arenas.
At Flagship, Doug has led investments in CombinatoRx (NASDAQ: CRXX), Tetraphase, Alvine Pharmaceuticals, Concert Pharmaceuticals, Quanterix, Receptos, Agios Pharmaceuticals and Avedro. He co-founded Ensemble Therapeutics with Noubar Afeyan and Professor David Liu of Harvard University, and he served as CEO of the company in its initial stages. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Ensemble Therapeutics, Tetraphase, Concert Pharmaceuticals, Quanterix, Receptos, Agios, Selecta Biosciences, Avedro, Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals and AVEO Pharmaceuticals, and is an Observer on the Board of Directors of Alvine. He formerly served on the Board of Directors of CombinatoRx and Morphotek.
Doug is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation, the Genetics Advisory Council of the Harvard-Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics, the Scientific Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Birch Rock Camp in Waterford, ME.
Robert T. Nelsen – Co-founder and Managing Director, ARCH
Venture Partners
Robert Nelsen is a co-founder and a Managing Director of ARCH Venture
Partners, where he focuses on biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and micro-
and nanotechnology. He has played a significant role in the early sourcing,
financing and development of more than thirty companies and is a director
of Adolor, Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Ensemble Therapeutics, NeurogesX, Kythera
BioPharmaceuticals, and Ikaria. He previously served on the boards of
Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Surface Logix, NetBot, Everyday Learning, Spaltudaq,
Array BioPharma, Caliper Life Sciences, Illumina, R2 Technology, and
Classmates.com, among others. He also served as a director of the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute.
Robert holds an M.B.A. from The University of Chicago and a B.S. in
Economics and Biology from the University of Puget Sound.
Anna Protopapas – Senior Vice President, Corporate Development,
Millennium Pharmaceuticals
Anna Protopapas is Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at
Millennium Pharmaceuticals. She joined Millennium in 1997 and has been
a key driving force in forging alliances that have brought over $2 billion
in funding to Millennium, including alliances with Johnson & Johnson,
Aventis and Abbott. She has overseen the formation of development stage
in-licensing and out-licensing collaborations including the collaborations
with ILEX, Xenova, Xoma and Taisho. Prior to Millennium, Anna held various
positions in engineering, marketing and business development.
Anna holds B.S.E. and M.S.E degrees from Princeton University and MIT,
respectively, and an M.B.A. from Stanford Business School.
Michael D. Taylor, Ph.D. – Chief Executive Officer
Mike joined Ensemble Therapeutics as President and CEO in July of 2007 with more
than 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Ensemble, Mike
was Senior Vice President for Pfizer’s Global R&D division responsible
for global project and portfolio management. In other positions with
Pfizer (and previously Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis), Mike led early and late-stage
development projects across multiple therapeutic areas, including Lipitor® and
Neurontin®. His career includes extensive experience in drug discovery,
licensing and business development, and managing R&D alliances with pharmaceutical
and biotech partners. In addition to his R&D experience he is active
in investor development, government affairs and public policy affecting the
pharmaceutical industry. Until 2003 he was Adjunct Professor of Medicinal Chemistry
at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan, where he was active
in teaching medicinal chemistry and biopharmaceutics. Mike has authored or
coauthored 65 manuscripts and published abstracts and holds 6 patents.
Mike holds a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the State University
of New York at Buffalo and was awarded an NIH postdoctoral fellowship
in natural products synthesis and structure elucidation at the University
of Pennsylvania.
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