# Michael Foley

> Michael Foley is a medicinal chemist turned serial biotech founder who is now CEO and co-founder of Excelsior Sciences, a New York company building 'chemistry that machines can do.' His proprietary 'smart blocc' building blocks let robots and AI run iterative carbon-carbon bond formation in a closed loop, aiming to collapse the wall between drug discovery and manufacturing. Foley has founded multiple biotechs, ran the Broad Institute's Chemical Biology Platform, and was founding CEO of the Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute. Excelsior launched with $95 million in 2025.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Excelsior Sciences
- **Organizations:** Excelsior Sciences, Deerfield Discovery & Development (3DC), Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Glaxo Wellcome
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Ph.D. in Chemistry, Harvard University, M.S. in Chemistry, Utah State University, B.S. in Chemistry, St. Norbert College
- **Known for:** Built Glaxo's first high-throughput chemical synthesis platform, Co-founded multiple biotech companies that collectively raised billions in funding, Directed the Broad Institute's Chemical Biology Platform (100+ staff, 150+ collaborations, $100M+)

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Medicinal chemist at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Glaxo Wellcome; established Glaxo's first high-throughput chemical synthesis platform
- **2000s** — Co-founded biotech companies including CombinatoRx, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Forma Therapeutics and KDAC Therapeutics
- **Broad Institute era** — Director of the Broad Institute's Chemical Biology Platform, overseeing 100+ staff and 150+ academic collaborations worth more than $100 million
- **2014-2018** — Founding CEO and Sanders Director of the Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute (Rockefeller University, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Weill Cornell Medicine); partnered with Takeda
- **Later** — CEO of Deerfield Discovery & Development Corporation, building an integrated academia-plus-industry drug discovery model
- **2025-12** — Excelsior Sciences launches with $95 million ($70M Series A plus $25M New York State grant)

## Achievements

- Built Glaxo's first high-throughput chemical synthesis platform
- Co-founded multiple biotech companies that collectively raised billions in funding
- Directed the Broad Institute's Chemical Biology Platform (100+ staff, 150+ collaborations, $100M+)
- Founding CEO and Sanders Director of the Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute (2014-2018)
- Secured $25 million in New York State funding matched by Deerfield Management to launch Excelsior
- Co-founded Excelsior Sciences alongside Marty Burke, Bartosz Grzybowski and Jana Jensen
- Member of the Governor of New York's Life Sciences Advisory Board
- Trustee of St. Norbert College

## Latest updates

- **2025-12** — Excelsior Sciences emerges with $95 million: a $70M Series A co-led by Deerfield Management, Khosla Ventures and Sofinnova Partners, plus a $25M grant from New York's Empire State Development. Other backers include Cornucopian Capital, Eli Lilly, Illinois Ventures and MIT.
- **2026-05** — Excelsior featured in Weill Cornell Medicine's BioInnovate Conference coverage on the path from innovation to scale.

## Links

- Website: https://excelsiorsci.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-foley1/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/michael-foley
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-03