about us
“The greatest need we have today in the human cancer problem, except for universal care, is a method for detecting cancer before there are any clinical signs or symptoms.”
Sidney Farber, M.D.
Father of modern chemotherapy
November 1962
pioneering the detection of early cancer
Harbinger Health is pioneering the detection of early cancer and enabling foundationally new approaches to cancer screening, diagnosis and management. Incubated within Flagship Pioneering for three years before launching in 2021, Harbinger combines advances in artificial intelligence with proprietary insights into the biology of the beginnings of cancer to identify cancer before it is visible or symptomatic with the aim of developing a low-cost, multi-cancer blood test.
A harbinger is a “forerunner, that which precedes and gives notice of the coming of another.” We not only are working to identify the harbinger – the biological programs present in the earliest forms of cancer – but seek to be the harbinger, to be the forerunner which will usher in the future of healthcare.
At Harbinger, we intend to lead in shaping this future – creating a proactive paradigm so that people can live cancer-free for longer, adding years to life and life to years. We envision a future where, instead of keeping cancer from spreading, it could be kept from forming, making a cancer diagnosis a routine health problem to be addressed rather than a life-altering event to be feared with profound implications for people, healthcare systems and societies.
Our answer to the problem of late cancer detection and unacceptable patient prognoses starts with our proprietary solutions for the future of cancer pre-emption. Beginning with blood-based tests, we will enable cancer detection before it is visible. By identifying biological programs rooted in cancer's origins, we can enable identification of early stage and pre-disease. Through this new pathway for cancer diagnosis and early therapeutic interventions, Harbinger Health has the potential to fundamentally change cancer care, for everyone.
Amanda Banks, M.D.
Amanda Banks is an Organizational Advisor to Harbinger Health, helping to drive business development, clinical and data strategies.
Amanda has shaped and driven strategy in new fields of medicine and biotech through her 25-year career in biotechnology and data-driven drug development. She is a seasoned operator and business development expert with a strong track record of leading teams and driving transformational partnerships.
Prior to joining Harbinger, Amanda was CEO and co-founder of Blackfynn, a data analytics company focused on improving medicines and care for people with neurodegenerative diseases. Prior to Blackfynn, she led Strategic Initiatives for Penn Medicine. Earlier in her career, Amanda led business development for the immunotherapy business unit of Maxygen, the first company to commercialize applications of directed molecular evolution, and for Valentis, a gene therapy company that pioneered non-viral gene-based therapeutics.
As a practicing acute-care hospitalist for more than a decade, Amanda has broad knowledge and deep experience in clinical medicine and care delivery. She is also a clinical trialist who has driven multiple clinical-stage drug development programs.
Amanda earned her M.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.S. in Biology from Tufts University. She completed residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She continues to take care of patients at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Philadelphia.
