Natick, MA, Oct 1, 2020 — Pillar Biosciences, a next-generation sequencing (NGS) clinical cancer diagnostics company, today announced the addition of a new independent board member, Robert Forrester. Mr. Forrester has over two decades of experience in C-level positions in the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Forrester joins a team of pragmatic experts in diagnostics and oncology dedicated to making precision medicine a practical reality through streamlined NGS workflows.  

Mr. Forrester’s leadership roles in private and public sector pharmaceutical companies include serving as the CEO of Verastem Oncology, COO of Forma Therapeutics, CEO and CFO of CombinatoRx, and CFO of Coley Pharmaceutical. Mr. Forrester is also the co-founder and CXO of EQRx Inc, which is committed to making innovative medicines at dramatically lower prices for the benefit of people and society. Mr. Forrester also served as Managing Director of the Proprietary Investment Group at MeesPierson. He holds a LL.B. from Bristol University. 

Mr. Forrester joins a team of independent advisors that includes Timothy Springer, a Harvard professor in immunology who has been involved in various successful startups such as Moderna Therapeutics; Paul Waring, the Executive Director of Molecular Pathology for AstraZeneca; and Marcia Eisenberg, the CSO and Senior Vice President of LabCorp.  

“Robert brings a wealth of industry experience and financial expertise to our growing team of scientific experts,” said Dr. Gang Song, co-founder and CEO of Pillar Biosciences. “Additionally, Robert’s work with EQRx demonstrates that he shares our larger vision of making precision medicine accessible to a wide range of molecular diagnostic labs and the patients they serve.” 

“What Pillar has developed are truly practical technologies to enable a paradigm shift from send-out testing to in-hospital testing to bring precision medicine closer to the patient,” said Forrester. “I look forward to working with the team to develop what has been an enabling tool for research use into a quicker and cheaper diagnostic solution for patients, providers and payers.”