CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Flagship Ventures, a leading venture capital and venture creation firm focused on healthcare and sustainability, today announced the appointment of Roger J. Pomerantz, M.D., F.A.C.P., as a Senior Partner. In this role, Dr. Pomerantz will provide strategic counsel and support to the Flagship team as well as to portfolio companies through board and advisory roles. Dr. Pomerantz recently joined as President and Chief Executive Officer of Seres Health, a Flagship VentureLabs™-founded company.  Seres Health is a clinical-stage therapeutics company developing novel treatments for diseases related to the human microbiome. 

"Roger brings with him a wealth of management experience in developing and commercializing therapeutics as well as expertise in the pharmaceutical industry," said Dr. Noubar Afeyan, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Flagship Ventures.  "We look forward to having Roger's strategic insights more broadly applied to Flagship's investment strategy and to the growth and success of our portfolio companies." 

"I am very impressed with Flagship's unique philosophy and approach to creating and investing in groundbreaking therapeutics companies," said Dr. Pomerantz.  "I am excited to build on Flagship's reputation as one of the leading innovators in therapeutic discovery and development."

Dr. Pomerantz was most recently Senior Vice President and Worldwide Head of Licensing & Acquisitions at Merck & Co., Inc. where he oversaw all licensing and acquisitions at Merck Research Laboratories, including external research, out-licensing regional deals and academic alliances. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and Global Franchise Head of Infectious Diseases at Merck. Prior to joining Merck, Dr. Pomerantz was Global Head of Infectious Diseases for Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals. He joined Johnson & Johnson in 2005 as President of Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  Dr. Pomerantz received his B.A. in Biochemistry at the Johns Hopkins University and his M.D. at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He did his internship, residency and infectious disease fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was also Chief Resident. His post-doctoral fellowship was done at the Whitehead Institute at M.I.T., in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate, Dr. David Baltimore.

About Flagship Ventures

Realizing entrepreneurial innovation is the mission of Flagship Ventures. The firm operates through two synergistic units: VentureLabs™, Flagship's innovation foundry which invents and launches transformative companies, and Venture Capital, which finances and develops innovative, early-stage companies. Founded in 2000, and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Flagship Ventures manages over $900 million in capital and has founded 27 ventures while investing in another 45. The firm is active in three principal business sectors: therapeutics, health technologies and sustainability. Flagship's portfolio ventures include: Accuri Cytometers (acquired by Becton Dickinson), Adnexus (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb), Acceleron (NASDAQ: XLRN), Agios (NASDAQ: AGIO), BIND Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BIND), Concert Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CNCE), Eleven Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: EBIO), Hypnion (acquired by Eli Lilly), Morphotek (acquired by Eisai), Receptos (NASDAQ: RCPT) and Tetraphase (NASDAQ: TTPH). Additional notable portfolio companies include: Affinnova, Joule Unlimited, and Moderna Therapeutics. For more information, please visit www.flagshipventures.com.

Contact: 
For Flagship Ventures:  Melissa Kahaly
Ruder Finn
212-583-2731
flagship@ruderfinn.com 

SOURCE Flagship Ventures

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