Noubar Afeyan seeks next biotech breakthrough beyond Moderna
After helping build Moderna into one of biotechnology's most valuable companies, co-founder Noubar Afeyan is directing fresh capital toward experimental ideas from his own scientific teams. The approach reflects a strategy of funding high-risk internal research rather than backing outside startups, as Moderna expands its messenger RNA business into cancer.
Highlights
- Noubar Afeyan invests millions each year in high-risk biotech projects developed internally, emphasizing early-stage incubation over external startups.
- Moderna Inc., co-founded by Afeyan, is valued at nearly $80 billion following the commercial success of its Covid-19 mRNA vaccine platform.
- Moderna shares have surged over 500% this year, fueled by strong expectations for its personalized skin cancer vaccine with Merck & Co.
Internal bets on high-risk science
As reported by Bloomberg, citing Bloomberg Billionaires, biochemical engineer Noubar Afeyan favors ambitious concepts that many investors initially consider unlikely to succeed. In 2010, he co-founded Moderna Inc. to use the body's own cells as small platforms for producing drugs, a model that at the time drew skepticism over whether it could work at scale.Instead of mainly investing in companies started by other entrepreneurs, Afeyan puts millions of dollars each year into unconventional projects developed by scientists on his own team. That model underscores a long-term biotech investment strategy centered on incubating ideas internally and backing them through early uncertainty.
Moderna's growth shapes the next phase
Moderna has since become one of the highest-profile biotechnology startups in decades and is now valued at nearly $80 billion. The company is best known for its Covid-19 vaccine, which established messenger RNA as a commercially viable platform and gave Moderna a larger base from which to pursue additional therapies.That expansion now includes the cancer market through Moderna's partnership with Merck & Co. Strong expectations for the companies' personalized skin cancer vaccine have helped lift Moderna shares by more than 500% so far this year, reinforcing investor interest in whether Afeyan's next internal biotech bet can produce another major commercial platform.
In our earlier coverage of the Philippine Social Security System (SSS) investment results, we outlined how the state pension fund defended its long-term, diversified equity strategy amid scrutiny over unrealized losses. SSS emphasized that paper losses are not cash losses unless assets are sold below cost, pointing instead to decades of realized gains and recurring dividend income from core holdings to support overall portfolio performance.
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