Flagship Pioneering, the bioplatform innovation company, has announced the appointment of Amanda Kay as Senior Partner and Chief Business Development Officer. In her new role, Kay will be responsible for driving and supporting business development across the Flagship ecosystem. She will focus on creating strong partnerships between Flagship companies and the biopharma industry. Additionally, Kay will work closely with the Pioneering Medicines unit of Flagship, as the company continues to invest in and grow its corporate alliance strategy.
Noubar Afeyan, Founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, stated that partnerships can allow companies to make bigger leaps to unlock new value pools. The company believes that Kay’s appointment will help identify and harness these opportunities within their ecosystem.
Before joining Flagship Pioneering, Kay served as Chief Business Officer and Head of Finance at Deep Genomics. She also held previous roles as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Synlogic, Inc. and as Chief Operating Officer for Pfizer’s Inflammation and Immunology Research Unit. Kay joined Flagship Pioneering in early 2023 as an Operating Partner and President of Metaphore Biotechnologies.
Stephen Berenson, Managing Partner at Flagship Pioneering, emphasized the importance of investing in the business development function and leadership. He believes that Kay’s extensive experience and passion for collaboration will be instrumental in advancing Flagship’s multiproduct platforms and maximizing their impact for patients.
Amanda Kay expressed excitement about establishing collaborations across the Flagship ecosystem and the broader biopharma industry. She believes that bringing teams together to translate innovative drug platform technologies into products that address unmet patient needs is the most exciting part of her work.
Kay’s appointment as Chief Business Development Officer follows other recent executive appointments at Flagship Pioneering. This includes David Khougazian as Growth Partner, Jason Gardner as CEO-Partner and CEO of Ampersand Biomedicines, and Rupert Vessey as Executive Partner and Chief Scientist.
Flagship Pioneering is a bioplatform company that conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category bioplatform companies to transform human health and sustainability. The firm has applied its unique hypothesis-driven innovation process to originate and foster over 100 scientific ventures, resulting in significant value. Flagship’s current ecosystem consists of 44 transformative companies.