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Ep199: Martin Burke on Making Small Molecule Medicines for the AI Era, Sonic AI
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Ep199: Martin Burke on Making Small Molecule Medicines for the AI Era
The Long Run
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Apr 21, 2026
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1:10:08
Interview
Ep199: Martin Burke on Making Small Molecule Medicines for the AI Era
From
The Long Run
Martin Burke
(Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Molecule Maker Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, guest)
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Executive Summary
Martin Burke's pioneering 'block chemistry' enables the rapid, automated synthesis of small molecules by using a standardized, iterative process, significantly reducing a major bottleneck in drug discovery.
His latest startup, Excelsior Sciences, has raised $95 million to build a platform that combines this automated synthesis with AI, treating molecules as 'tokens' to create foundation models for predicting chemical properties.
This integrated platform has reduced the design-synthesize-test cycle in drug discovery from months to a matter of days, enabling a Silicon Valley-style approach of rapid iteration.
Burke's academic research has led to multiple startups and clinical candidates, including a next-generation antifungal (now at Elyon) that avoids the kidney toxicity of its predecessor, amphotericin B.
Continue your research
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Processed May 4, 2026
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