The Innovation System Behind Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine

Noubar Afeyan, cofounder and chair of Moderna Therapeutics and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, says that the breakthrough innovation behind the company’s Covid-19 vaccine came not as a stroke of luck, but from a repeatable process. He outlines a system called “emergent discovery” that involves working back from future ideals, pioneering in novel spaces, encouraging unreasonable ideas, and persistently questioning hypotheses. And he says this process applies to other industries besides life sciences. Afeyan is the coauthor, with HBS professor Gary Pisano, of the HBR article "What Evolution Can Teach Us About Innovation."

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Sep 23, 2021

Embed this episode

Attribution link and audio player

NOW PLAYING

The Innovation System Behind Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine

0:00 21:18

1×

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

Share this episode

Similar Episodes

No similar episodes found.

Similar Podcasts

Dear HBR: Harvard Business Review Work can be frustrating. How can you get along with that maddening coworker? Figure out what your unapproachable boss really wants? Motivate your demoralized team? "Dear HBR:" is here to help. With empathy, experience, and humor, veteran Harvard Business Review editors and co-hosts Alison Beard and Dan McGinn explore solutions to your workplace dilemmas. Bolstered by insights from guests and academic research, they help you navigate thorny situations to find a better way forward. Women at Work Harvard Business Review Women face gender discrimination throughout our careers. It doesn't have to derail our ambitions — but how do we prepare to deal with it? There's no workplace orientation session about narrowing the wage gap, standing up to interrupting male colleagues, or taking on many other issues we encounter at work. So HBR staffers Amy Bernstein, Amy Gallo, and Emily Caulfield are untangling some of the knottiest problems. They interview experts on gender, tell stories about their own experiences, and give lots of practical advice to help you succeed in spite of the obstacles. The HBR Channel Harvard Business Review Weekly ideas, insights, and tips on management from Harvard Business Review. Management ANGELO LEOGRANDE in questo podcast mi occupo di analizzare le questioni di management presenti nella letteratura scientifica con attenzione particolare all'Harvard Business Review-HBR.Diventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/management--4213190/support.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of HBR IdeaCast?

This episode is 21 minutes long.

When was this HBR IdeaCast episode published?

This episode was published on September 23, 2021.

Can I download this HBR IdeaCast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.

URL copied to clipboard!