Anthropic AI has appointed Vas Narasimha, the chief executive officer of pharma giant Novartis, to its Board of Directors through Anthropic Long Term Benefit Trust, in what market watchers term as a “pre-IPO polishing move.”
50-year-old Narasimhan, a physician scientist who has helmed Novartis, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, since 2018, will join Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, co-founder Daniela Amodei, Yasmin Razavi, Jay Kreps, Reed Hastings and Chris Liddell on the Board of Directors at Anthropic PBC.
“Vas brings something rare to our board. He’s overseen the development and approval of more than 35 novel medicines for the benefit of patients around the world in one of the most regulated industries,” said Daniela Amodei, Co-founder and President of Anthropic. “Getting powerful new technology to people safely and at scale is what we think about every day at Anthropic. Vas has been doing exactly that for years, and I’m grateful he’s joining us.”
Narasimhan’s appointment through Anthropic Long Term Benefit Trust is crucial because it now brings the Anthropic Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) Board of Directors in majority voted through the trust.
As per Anthropic’s governing structure, its board of directors are elected by stockholders and long term benefit trust—an independent body founded in 2023 by Anthropic comprising five Trustees with background and expertise in AI safety, national security, public policy and social enterprise and most importantly, “financially disinterested” with Anthropic. It is this body that has elected Narasimhan to the Board of Directors, seen in the wider spectrum of Anthropic AI trying to strengthen its “public benefit mission” by responsible AI development that prioritizes long-term societal good over pure short-term profits.
Anthropic PBC is expected to go for an initial public offering (IPO) in Q4, 2026, and according to market watchers, Narasimhan joining the Board of Directors is seen as a “pre-IPO polishing move” by the AI startup.
Born in Pittsburgh city of Pennsylvania in U.S., Vasant ‘Vas’ Narasimhan has worked on various public health sector programs including HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis programs in India, Africa and South America. At Novartis, Narasimhan is credited for having introduced technology led transformation of the pharma giant with focus on key therapeutic areas and technology platforms, including siRNA, radioligand, and cell and gene therapies, to deliver new medicines for patients with cardiovascular disease, cancer and rare but debilitating genetic disorders.
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