The Innovation System Behind Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine | HBR IdeaCast | Podcast episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 20, 2026 · 30 MIN

The Innovation System Behind Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine | HBR IdeaCast | Podcast

from Harvard Business Review · host HBR

The Innovation System Behind Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine | HBR IdeaCast | Podcast 30 Nov 2022 --- 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.” This episode originally aired on HBR IdeaCast on September 23, 2021. Listen to more HBR IdeaCast episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzAU8TPKsJuaxff5Cp0P2DKE_tFyaWOOa You can also listen to this episode on HBR.org, and wherever you listen to podcasts: - HBR.org (transcript available here): https://hbr.org/podcast/2021/09/the-innovation-system-behind-modernas-covid-19-vaccine - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-innovation-system-behind-modernas-covid-19-vaccine/id152022135?i=1000536391404 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/67JOI782PG96G0JU0rMaYs?si=4866c6aef29b4ac9 - Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/hbr-ideacast/episode/the-innovation-system-behind-modernas-covid-19-vaccine-87020210 - Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmhhcnZhcmRidXNpbmVzcy5vcmcvaGFydmFyZGJ1c2luZXNzL2lkZWFjYXN0/episode/dGFnOmF1ZGlvLmhici5vcmcsMjAwNi0wNS0wODppZGVhY2FzdC4wODIw?sa=X&ved=0CAIQuIEEahcKEwjYno6K3NH7AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLA Series Description: A weekly podcast featuring the leading thinkers in business and management. About Harvard Business Review: Harvard Business Review is the leading destination for smart management thinking. Through its flagship magazine, books, and digital content and tools published on HBR.org, Harvard Business Review aims to provide professionals around the world with rigorous insights and best practices to help lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact. Learn more at www.hbr.org. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro 1:28 – Incremental vs. Breakthrough Innovation 4:43 – Synthetic mRNA as a Breakthrough Innovation 8:50 – Talent Management for Innovation 11:07 – Obstacles to Great Results 15:36 – Advantages to Being the First 21:14 – Outro Follow Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harv... https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_bus... Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters #HarvardBusinessReview #business #management Copyright © 2022 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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