Michael D. Taylor

Michael D. Taylor, PhD is an Operating Partner at Mission BioCapital in the Cambridge office. He provides management and operational leadership to portfolio companies, and is currently serving as Executive Chairman at ARase Therapeutics, Telo Therapeutics, Mitokinin, and Epiodyne. Previously, he served as President and CEO of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals from 2014 – 2019. Prior to joining Deciphera, Dr. Taylor was CEO of Ensemble Therapeutics, a small molecule drug discovery company, from 2007 to 2013. Prior to joining Ensemble, Dr. Taylor was Senior Vice President for Pfizer’s Global R&D division and served as Vice President, Drug Development at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis, where he led early and late-stage development projects across multiple therapeutic areas, including Lipitor® and Neurontin®.

Dr. Taylor has authored or coauthored 65 manuscripts, published numerous abstracts, and is co-inventor on eight patents. Dr. Taylor holds a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Pharmacy, was awarded an NIH postdoctoral fellowship in natural products synthesis and structure elucidation at the University of Pennsylvania and holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of South Florida.