Meet Moderna's cofounder and chairman, whose coronavirus vaccine could roll out nationwide as soon as this weekend. He loves basketball and Dolly Parton.

Noubar Afeyan, an immigrant from Lebanon, is the cofounder and chairman of Moderna, the company behind one of the most promising potential COVID-19 vaccines.Flagship Pioneering

• Noubar Afeyan is the cofounder and chairman of biotech firm Moderna, whose coronavirus vaccine is close to getting approval in the US from the FDA.
• On Thursday, an expert FDA panel endorsed the vaccine.
• HHS Secretary Alex Azar said it could get authorized as soon as the next day, with distribution starting the same weekend.
• Afeyan is an immigrant and a basketball fan, and calls himself a "parallel entrepreneur" because of his strategy of cofounding and helping to grow new companies, which stands at 41 over two decades.
• Business Insider spoke with Afeyan to learn more about his experience as an immigrant to Canada and then the US who became a serial entrepreneur, the development of Moderna, and his favorite Dolly Parton song.

Noubar Afeyan loves basketball. In his free time, he roots for the Boston Celtics, a team he supported even before enrolling at MIT in the same city (he also likes the Patriots and the Red Sox). He loves to play recreationally - but he's had to pause during the pandemic.

Afeyan hasn't had much free time lately. That's because he's the cofounder and chairman of Moderna, the biotech firm that produced a vaccine shown to have 94.5% efficacy against the virus and could get FDA approval as soon as today.

COVID-19 caught the attention of Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel In January, even before the pandemic hit the US. Moderna got to work, and it shipped the first batches of its vaccine to the National Institutes of Health by February 24.

On Thursday, an expert FDA panel endorsed the vaccine, and once it gets approval, nationwide distribution could start this weekend.

Ahead of the Moderna vaccine's presumptive authorization, Business Insider spoke with Afeyan about the vaccine's development, including partial funding received from Dolly Parton, his experience as an immigrant founder and how it's shaped his worldview, his strategy of "parallel entrepreneurship," and of course a little basketball.