Dive Brief:
- Venture capital firm Flagship Ventures has hired Michael Rosenblatt to come on board as Chief Medical Officer, stealing him away from Merck where he served in the same role for seven years.
- Rosenblatt is believed to be the first biopharma exec to take up the post of chief medical office at a VC firm, according to The Boston Globe.
- Flagship Ventures is a 16-year-old VC company headed up by Noubar Afeyan and has $1.4 billion under management across five separate funds. The company prides itself on having a more scientific and innovative approach to launching biotech companies compared with its peers.
Dive Insight:
Afeyan's goal in bringing on Rosenblatt as CMO appears aimed at leveraging his relationships and experience in big pharma, as well as academia.
In addition to his work at Merck, Rosenblatt has also held positions as dean of Tufts University School of Medicine and as director of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
"As Flagship's CMO, he will play a key role in our partnerships with academic researchers and biopharmaceutical partners, and will support and guide Flagship companies as they conduct clinical research at a rapidly increasing scale" said Afeyan in a statement.
Flagship indicated Rosenblatt would lead global clinical development and medical affairs, while also helping with conception and launch of new biotech companies.