Board Chair
Geoffrey von Maltzahn is co-founder and board chair of Tessera Therapeutics, as well as a general partner at Flagship Pioneering. Geoffrey von Maltzahn joined Flagship Pioneering in 2009. He is an inventor, entrepreneur, CEO, and the co-founder of multiple groundbreaking companies that integrate biology and data science to transform human health and sustainability. Geoffrey has co-founded companies that have, in aggregate, achieved over $10 billion in public and private market capitalization. Through his role in Flagship Labs, the company’s innovation foundry, Geoffrey has created companies that include Quotient Therapeutics, Tessera Therapeutics, Generate:Biomedicines, Indigo Agriculture, Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ: SANA), and Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB). These are pioneering, respectively, somatic genomics, Gene Writing™, generative biology, carbon farming and plant microbiome products, engineered cells and cell-specific gene therapies, and the first human microbiome therapeutics.
Geoffrey currently serves as CEO of Quotient Therapeutics, board chair of Tessera Therapeutics, chief innovation officer and board director of Indigo Agriculture, board director of Generate:Biomedicines, and as CEO of multiple new stealth therapeutics and sustainability companies. Geoffrey has served as founding chief executive officer of several Flagship companies including: Tessera Therapeutics, where he led the development of its pioneering Gene Writing™ technology; Cobalt Biomedicine, which he led from inception to merger with Sana Biotechnology; and Indigo, where he led the development of the company’s plant microbiome platform and the discovery of the company’s first commercial products: Indigo Cotton, Indigo Wheat, Indigo Corn, and Indigo Soy, which are now used on millions of acres. Previously, Geoffrey was the chief technology officer of Seres Therapeutics, where he led the discovery of SER-109, the first microbiome therapeutic to report positive Phase 3 data, and built out the company’s discovery platform.
Geoffrey has deep expertise in genome engineering, the microbiome, bioengineering, and nanotechnology. He is listed as an inventor on over 200 patent applications and patents, and he has co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed articles. Geoffrey has received a number of awards and honors, including Bloomberg 50's Ones to Watch; Business Insider’s 30 Biotech Leaders Under 40; Endpoints 20 Biopharma Leaders Under 40; Fierce Pharma’s Most Influential People in Biopharma; Codex’s World’s Top 50 Innovators; Boston Chamber of Commerce Ten Outstanding Young Leaders; the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize, awarded to the most innovative students at MIT; the National Inventors Hall of Fame Graduate Student Prize; the Biomedical Engineering Society Graduate Research Award; and the Harvard-MIT Martha Gray Prize. Geoffrey and his inventions have been profiled by Forbes, The Economist, CNN, Bloomberg, WIRED, Fast Company, Business Insider, Scientific American, Popular Science, Boston Globe, TechCrunch, Barron’s, Endpoints, Fierce Biotech, MIT Technology Review, and other media.
Geoffrey was awarded a PhD in biomedical engineering and medical physics from MIT under the mentorship of Sangeeta N. Bhatia, MD, PhD; an MS in bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego; and an SB in chemical engineering from MIT.