# Yasir Al-Wakeel

> Yasir Al-Wakeel is a physician turned biotech operator who in September 2025 became CEO of Vesalius Therapeutics and a CEO-Partner at Flagship Pioneering. Trained as a doctor at Oxford with a theology degree from Cambridge, he spent a decade structuring more than $30 billion in life-science deals before running finance and strategy at companies like Merrimack, Neon Therapeutics and Kronos Bio. At Vesalius he is betting that many common diseases are actually clusters of genetically distinct conditions waiting to be redefined.

- **Role:** CEO at Vesalius Therapeutics; CEO-Partner at Flagship Pioneering
- **Organizations:** Vesalius Therapeutics, Flagship Pioneering, SR One, Kronos Bio, Neon Therapeutics, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Credit Suisse, MaxCyte
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** BM BCh (Medicine and Surgery), University of Oxford, MA, Theology, University of Cambridge
- **Known for:** Led Kronos Bio's $155M crossover financing and $288M IPO, Spearheaded Kronos Bio's discovery deal with Genentech (announced January 2023), Helped execute a ~$1 billion asset sale from Merrimack Pharmaceuticals to Ipsen

## Career timeline

- **early career** — Practicing physician with clinical and academic medical posts in the United Kingdom
- **2008-2015** — Credit Suisse - biotech equity research analyst and director of healthcare investment banking; involved in $30B+ in transactions
- **2015-2017** — CFO and Head of Corporate Development at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals; helped execute ~$1B asset sale to Ipsen
- **2017-2020** — CFO (and Strategy Officer) at Neon Therapeutics; role in eventual sale to BioNTech
- **2020-2023** — CFO and Head of Corporate Development at Kronos Bio; led $155M crossover financing, $288M IPO, and Genentech discovery deal
- **recent** — Entrepreneur in Residence at SR One; President and CEO of a stealth genetic medicines company
- **2025-09** — Appointed CEO of Vesalius Therapeutics and CEO-Partner of Flagship Pioneering

## Achievements

- Led Kronos Bio's $155M crossover financing and $288M IPO
- Spearheaded Kronos Bio's discovery deal with Genentech (announced January 2023)
- Helped execute a ~$1 billion asset sale from Merrimack Pharmaceuticals to Ipsen
- Played a key role in Neon Therapeutics' eventual sale to BioNTech
- Involved in more than $30 billion of strategic and financial transactions across his finance career
- Appointed CEO of Vesalius Therapeutics and CEO-Partner of Flagship Pioneering in September 2025

## Latest updates

- **2025-09** — Appointed CEO of Vesalius Therapeutics and CEO-Partner of Flagship Pioneering, succeeding interim CEO John Mendlein, who became Executive Chairman.
- **2024-11** — Vesalius (the company he now leads) entered a multi-target strategic alliance with GSK for Parkinson's disease research.

## Links

- Website: https://vesaliustx.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasir-al-wakeel-0720a537/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/yasir-al-wakeel
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-04