Torben Straight Nissen

Torben Straight Nissen is an Executive Partner at Flagship Pioneering where he is responsible for company creation and maturation in the new medical field of Preemptive Health and Medicine. Torben joined Flagship Pioneering in 2016 where he initially served as President of Rubius Therapeutics and established the company as a pioneering cell therapy company with a broad product pipeline, a strong 200-person R&D organization, and a solid financial position following the company’s IPO in 2018.

Torben has provided executive and R&D leadership to biotech and pharmaceutical companies for more than 20 years. Prior to joining Flagship, Torben was at Pfizer where he headed up Strategic Portfolio Management for the company’s worldwide R&D organization. In this role, he oversaw ­­Pfizer’s portfolio, spanning from discovery to Phase 2b across Pfizer’s 300+ programs in all major therapeutic areas. Earlier in his career, Torben served as Chief Operating officer for Ascendis Pharma (Nasdaq: ASND) and Managing Director for Maxygen Inc.

Torben holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemical engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and Carlsberg Laboratories and a Master of Science degree in chemical engineering from the Technical University of Denmark.