Foundation Medicine

Troy Schurr is a commercial oncology leader with nearly 30 years of experience across the diagnostics, pharmaceutical and biotech industries. He leads commercial strategies that strengthen partnerships and advance precision medicine through next-generation sequencing solutions.

A Leadership Philosophy Shaped by Experience

Schurr’s career across therapeutics and diagnostics has shaped his commercial perspective, grounded in connecting scientific innovation with patient impact. After earning his MBA, he joined Johnson & Johnson in 1998 as a sales representative. His career progression included hospital and academic account management, followed by sales training across immunology and oncology, before moving into marketing.

After 17 years at Johnson & Johnson, he moved to Clovis Oncology to support a PARP inhibitor launch. He later joined Archer Diagnostics as VP of global marketing, leading work across comprehensive genomic profiling, decentralized testing and the preliminary development of a molecular residual disease assay. He subsequently returned to the pharmaceutical industry, leading global strategy for an antibody-drug conjugate at Astellas and helping launch it in 28 countries.

His interest in diagnostics led Schurr to Foundation Medicine in early 2022. He progressed from VP of global marketing for biopharma to chief biopharma business officer and now chief commercial officer, where he leads the U.S. commercial organization across the clinical and biopharma businesses.

His responsibilities span sales, marketing, alliance management, payer and national accounts, and strategic management. He also works across medical operations, product, R&D and corporate functions to sustain alignment between strategy and execution.

Driving Growth through Customer Value

Schurr does not view development and value creation as competing objectives. In health care, sustainable growth is only possible when one delivers meaningful value. For healthcare providers, value means trusted genomic insights that inform treatment decisions; for biopharmaceutical partners, it means supporting drug development and clinical efficiency; and for patients, it means expanding access to precision medicine.

His commercial philosophy focuses on becoming a true partner rather than just a vendor by understanding customer challenges, delivering consistently and building long-term relationships. At Foundation Medicine, that approach spans across community, clinical and academic oncology settings through partnership building, evidence generation, expanded access and continuous improvement of the customer experience.

For Schurr, the customer’s voice is also central to his strategy. The questions informing decisions are whether an initiative creates greater customer value and improves clinical outcomes.

Shaping Commercial Strategy for What Comes Next

Schurr sees precision medicine expanding beyond its traditional oncology foundation, with greater integration of genomic, clinical and real-world data. As therapies become more personalized, organizations need the right assays and biomarkers to support discovery while building the commercial footprint, education and awareness needed to support companion diagnostics.

AI and advanced analytics further help unlock insights from multifaceted data sets, supporting smarter clinical and commercial decisions. Foundation Medicine is strengthening its platform and data capabilities while developing bespoke, long-term commercial models with biopharma partners. For Schurr, the objective is not just to respond to market developments but to help shape what comes next.

Advice for Future Leaders

Schurr encourages aspiring leaders to put people first, build teams that believe in each other and the mission and execute with discipline and promptness to deliver extraordinary results. Market outlook, products and technology will continue evolving, but strong teams adapt and succeed through that change.

He believes high-performing organizations are built on trust, accountability, alignment and a common commitment to excellence. Leaders should listen attentively, give clarity and maintain high standards while giving people opportunities to gain insights from failures and mistakes, keeping them connected to the larger vision.