Formation Bio
Formation Bio is an AI-driven pharmaceutical company that acquires and develops clinical-stage drugs using proprietary technology platforms. The company has raised $528M, including a Series D in June 2024, and employs 200 people.
The growth story
Formation Bio grew from 115 to 200 employees between 2021 and 2026, raising $528M along the way, most recently a Series D in June 2024.
About
Formation Bio develops clinical-stage drugs acquired from pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Its proprietary AI platforms optimize trial design, speed up trial completion, and improve data quality, aiming to accelerate drug development and patient access.
The company has raised $528M, with its latest Series D round closing in June 2024. Backed by prominent investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Casdin Capital, Formation Bio employs 200 people and has been recognized with awards including the 2025 CNBC Disruptor 50 and Fierce 15.
Founders and leadership
Engineering is the largest function at Formation Bio, accounting for 30% of the workforce. The company has a median tenure of 2 years, indicating moderate employee retention.
The Formation Bio org chart
Benjamine Liu (CEO and Co-founder at Formation Bio) leads 60 mapped leaders with 38 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Engineering 28 (-12% YoY), Business Development 27 (+23% YoY), Operations 16 (+60% YoY), Information Technology 16 (+60% YoY), Research 13 (+18% YoY), Human Resources 13 (-7% YoY).
Talent flow
Formation Bio recruits heavily from IQVIA, Raven Healthcare Incubator, and Flagship Pioneering. Alumni frequently move to companies like Granted, Aditum Bio, and Mending.
Most common previous employers of Formation Bio staff: IQVIA (5), Raven Healthcare Incubator (RA Capital) (4), Flagship Pioneering (4), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (4), Sio Gene Therapies (3), Roche (3). Former Formation Bio employees most often moved to Granted (3), Aditum Bio (3), Mending (3), Inato (3), EVERSANA (2), Cadence (2).
Alumni worth knowing
The Formation Bio mafia
Formation Bio alumni have founded 25 companies, including Hex (281 staff), Healthmine (96 staff), and Percepta (83 staff).
27Barry McCardel, was Senior Director, Operations & Strategy until 2019Glen Takahashi, was Engineering Manager until 2019Dwight Erskine, was Head of Network and Site Operations until 2020Michael Rochlin, was Product Manager until 2021David Kay, was Director of Growth until 2020Ethan Phan, was Engineering Manager until 2022Elliott Green, was Commercial Strategy and Partnerships until 2019
Bobby Guelich, was Advisor until 2021
Zim Hang, was Growth Lead until 2019
Benji Hochberger, was Director of Network until 2021
Nikhil Krishnan, was Strategic Partnerships Manager until 2020
Rachel O'Driscoll, was Senior Account Manager, Physician Network until 2019
Kit Dobyns, was Co-Founder until 2019
Zain Khan, was Director of Operations & Strategy until 2020
Ilan Man, was Head of Data until 2021
Funmi Dosunmu, was Senior Executive Assistant until 2021
John Lancione, was Commercial Growth until 2021
Matt McKay, was Senior Recruiter until 2019
Edward Santos, MBA, was Project Manager, Trial Operations until 2019
Andreas Limberopoulos, was Group Manager, Patient Enrollment until 2021
Brendan Riley, was Head of Patient Recruitment Partnerships until 2019
Quentin Chu, was President and CFO until 2020
Thomas Johnson, was Recruiter until 2021
Laura Fazio, was Director Clinical Data Management until 2024
Franklin Aririguzoh, was Senior Associate, Growth Strategy & Operations until 2025Hiring now
Web traffic
Traffic mix: 46% direct, 43% search, 2% social, 2% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at Formation Bio: Microsoft Office (60), Leadership (55), Research Skills (53), Data Analysis (50), Microsoft Excel (48), Python (Programming Language) (40), Public Speaking (39), Microsoft Word (37).
Where the team actually sits
Formation Bio people are concentrated in New York, United States (51), Massachusetts, United States (22), New York City Metropolitan Area (21), California, United States (9).
Search footprint
Formation Bio attracts about 930 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $0K a month if bought through ads. It gained 38 ranking keywords and lost 45 in the last period.
What employees say
- Compensation
- 3.70 / 5
- Career opportunities
- 3.30 / 5
- Senior management
- 2.90 / 5
- Work-life balance
- 3.80 / 5
Frequently asked
Formation Bio has 200 employees as of September 2026.
Formation Bio has raised $528M in total, most recently a Series D round in June 2024.
Formation Bio was founded in 2013 by Benjamine Liu, Linhao Zhang.
Benjamine Liu (CEO and Co-founder at Formation Bio) sits at the top of Formation Bio's reporting structure, with 38 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current Formation Bio staff are IQVIA (5 people), Raven Healthcare Incubator (RA Capital) (4 people), Flagship Pioneering (4 people).
Former Formation Bio employees most often move to Granted (3), Aditum Bio (3), Mending (3).
At least 25 companies have a founder who previously worked at Formation Bio, including Hex, Healthmine, Percepta.
Formation Bio attracts about 930 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $0K a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among Formation Bio staff are Microsoft Office, Leadership, Research Skills, Data Analysis, Microsoft Excel.
Formation Bio staff are concentrated in New York, United States (51), Massachusetts, United States (22), New York City Metropolitan Area (21).
Formation Bio has about 28 people in Engineering, down 12% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Formation Bio has about 27 people in Business Development, up 23% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 154 current and 254 former Formation Bio profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
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