Robert Nelsen is a co-founder and a Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners. He focuses on biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and nanotechnology. Mr. Nelsen joined ARCH at its founding and has played a significant role in the early sourcing, financing and development of more than thirty companies including Ikaria, Adolor (ADLR), Aviron (AVIR, acquired by Medimmune-MEDI), Caliper Life Sciences (CALP), Illumina (ILMN), Trubion Pharmaceuticals (TRBN), Array BioPharma (ARRY), NetBot, deCODE Genetics (DCGN), Nanosys, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), XenoPort (XNPT), GenVec (GNVC), R2 Technology (acquired by Hologic-HOLX), IDUN Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer-PFE), Genomica (GNOM, acquired by Exelixis-EXEL), Surface Logix, NeurogesX (NGSX), Classmates.com (acquired by United Online-UNTD), Nura (acquired by Omeros), Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Spaltudaq, VLST, Ensemble Discovery, Accelerator, Apoptos, Fate Therapeutics, Agios Therapeutics, and Everyday Learning.
Mr. Nelsen is a director of Sapphire Energy, Ikaria, Agios, NeurogesX, and Kythera Biopharmaceuticals. He previously served on the boards of Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Surface Logix, NetBot, Everyday Learning, Spaltudaq, Array BioPharma, Caliper Life Sciences, Illumina, R2 Technology, and Classmates.com, among others. He also serves as a director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Mr. Nelsen holds an M.B.A. from The University of Chicago and a B.S. in Economics and Biology from the University of Puget Sound.
Recent posts
[Editor’s note: To tap the wisdom of our distinguished group of Xconomists, we asked a few of them to answer this question heading into 2013: “What does your gut tell you will... Read more »
American innovation lost big again as the U.S. Senate passed “patent reform” and caved to big business lobbyists at the expense of true innovators in small companies and universities.... Read more »
Last year at year end, I wrote about technology trends. Those trends, like the merger of the cloud and mobile devices, personalized medicine, reprogramming of human cells to cure disease,... Read more »
Washington’s economy is showing signs of recovery. But some major problems persist—unemployment is stuck at a historic high and healthcare costs continue to skyrocket.
The biotechnology industry can help alleviate both... Read more »
The next decade will see the realization of many of the buzzwords of the last decade. The combination of the information era, the biotechnology revolution, and materials breakthroughs will drive new... Read more »
(Editor’s Note: This is excerpted from written testimony to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.)
Out of the many patents that will be filed in the coming years, there will be a... Read more »
Most Americans are depressed about the economy. But if we pull back and try to rise above the clouds, there are real reasons for hope.
The combination of a “Yes We... Read more »
