CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Foundation Medicine, Inc., a personalized cancer diagnostics company that aims to bring comprehensive cancer genome analysis to routine clinical care, today announced the appointment of Gary Palmer, M.D., J.D., M.B.A., M.P.H. to the newly created position of senior vice president, medical affairs and commercial development.
In this role, Dr. Palmer will drive the clinical adoption and commercial development of Foundation Medicine’s tests as the company continues to advance its mission to enable personalized cancer treatment.
“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Palmer to our team as Foundation Medicine advances the development of comprehensive diagnostic tests to guide the most effective treatments for patients living with cancer,” said Alexis Borisy, chief executive officer, Foundation Medicine. “Dr. Palmer’s proven leadership developing and commercializing molecular diagnostic tools for cancer, paired with his many years of experience treating cancer patients in clinical practice, demonstrate his in-depth understanding of the practical application for diagnostics in personalized medicine. This strategic appointment and the recently announced partnership with Novartis are important steps forward for Foundation Medicine as we bring our vision to reality and position the company for continued growth and success in 2011 and beyond.”
Dr. Palmer is a medical oncologist with a career spanning three decades in oncology, initially as a clinician in both the academic and community settings and then as a biotech industry executive with diagnostic and therapeutic experience. Dr. Palmer joins Foundation Medicine from On-Q-ity, where he was chief medical officer and head of development for DNA repair marker development and circulating tumor cell technology. He also served as vice president of medical affairs at Genomic Health, Inc., where he was instrumental in the commercialization of the Oncotype DX Breast Cancer Assay.
“I am thrilled to join the Foundation Medicine team,” said Dr. Palmer. “There is great progress being made in the cancer genomics space, and the approach envisioned by the founding advisors and leadership team at Foundation Medicine is unparalleled in the field. The company is uniquely poised to truly enable personalized cancer care.”
Prior to Dr. Palmer’s tenure with Genomic Health, he held leadership positions in the biotech industry including at Amgen, Inc. where he was involved in the clinical development and commercialization of Neupogen®, Neulasta® and Aranesp®. Prior to joining industry, he served as director of the Medical Breast Service at University of California Davis Cancer Center and chief of medical oncology at Mercy Health System, Sacramento. Dr. Palmer received a B.A. from Yale University and a doctorate of medicine from the Stanford University School of Medicine. He also holds an M.B.A. from the University of California, Davis, an M.P.H. from the University of California, Los Angeles and a law degree from Concord University.
About Foundation Medicine
Foundation Medicine is dedicated to the development of comprehensive tests that will help physicians personalize cancer treatment for their patients. Foundation Medicine’s laboratory tests are designed to accommodate and assimilate a dynamic landscape of cancer genome and other molecular information and growing availability of treatment options. These tests will help oncologists make prompt and informed determinations about the best cancer treatment for each patient, taking into account the patient’s unique cancer-associated aberrations against relevant genomic insights and therapeutic approaches. The company’s founding advisors are world leaders in genome technology, cancer biology and clinical oncology. They, alongside biotech and molecular diagnostics industry leaders, will harness emerging technologies to develop unparalleled tests that identify and interpret an ever-growing set of actionable genomic and other molecular alterations, truly enabling personalized cancer medicine. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.foundationmedicine.com.