Anthropic Adds Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan to Board Ahead of Potential 2026 IPO
Summary
Anthropic has appointed Vas Narasimhan, chief executive of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, to its board of directors, the company announced Monday — its second board addition in as many months as it prepares for a potential initial public offering as soon as this year.
The appointment, made through Anthropic’s Long-Term Benefit Trust — an independent governance body whose members hold no financial stake in the company — brings a physician-scientist with over two decades of drug development experience into the AI lab’s inner circle. With Narasimhan’s addition, Trust-appointed directors now hold a majority of board seats, a structural signal that Anthropic intends to maintain its public benefit mission even as it moves closer to public markets. He joins a board that already includes former Microsoft and General Motors executive Chris Liddell, who was added in February.
Narasimhan’s appointment is also a strategic one. Anthropic has been aggressively building its healthcare footprint, with existing partnerships spanning Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Genmab aimed at compressing drug development timelines. Earlier this month, the company acquired biotech startup Coefficient Bio, according to a person familiar with the matter. Narasimhan personally oversaw the development and approval of more than 35 novel medicines at Novartis, according to Anthropic co-founder Daniela Amodei.
Anthropic declined to provide an IPO timeline. The pace of board upgrades — two high-profile additions in under three months — suggests preparations are moving faster than previously disclosed.
Sources: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-adds-novartis-ceo-to-board-6e642bf4?mod=e2tw