Ruth March, PhD, is Senior Vice-President Precision Medicine and Biosamples at AstraZeneca

As a member of the senior leadership team in AstraZeneca’s R&D Oncology group, I lead our Precision Medicine and Biosamples (PMB) function.  PMB plays a critical role in AstraZeneca, using patients’ individual characteristics – usually detected by biomarkers or diagnostic tests in human biological samples – to match them with the best medicines for treatment.

PMB’s vision is to accelerate cure – from samples to precision medicines - by harnessing the power of biological insights gained from human biological samples to accelerate the delivery of transformative medicines to our patients. It is this ambition that drives our day-to-day work – to make a meaningful difference to patients.​

I am accountable for development of novel diagnostics and management of human biological samples for AstraZeneca’s drug projects in all therapy areas and phases of drug development.  To date, PMB has successfully launched over 58 diagnostic tests for six Precision Medicine drugs across all major commercial regions (EU, US, China and Japan)

PMB led the way with many industry firsts;

  • 1st drug label based on circulating tumour DNA
  • 1st FDA approval of a lab-based companion diagnostic
  • 1st point of care diagnostic for respiratory disease

  Leading innovation

Constantly pioneering, I am sponsoring the transformation of AstraZeneca’s use of Human Biological Samples, (HBS), creating end-to-end digital systems that will drive the next generation of innovative medicines for patients. Driving the future, we are harnessing the power of AI-based tools for patient selection with our Quantitative Continuous Scoring (QCS) model.

Ruth March Senior Vice-President of Precision Medicine and Biosamples, R&D Oncology
Ruth

LATEST PROJECT

Targeting medicines with precision

WORLD LEADING GENOMICS STRATEGY

AstraZeneca/ MedImmune’s Genomics Initiative aims to analyse 2 million genomes by 2026, including sequencing 500,000 samples from patients in our clinical trials and integrating genomics with clinical data. Achieving these ambitious goals involves working with a global network of two industrial and seven academic partners including Columbia University Institute of Genomics Medicine, U.S. and the University of Cambridge, U.K.

FIRST CIRCULATING TUMOUR DNA APPROVAL

First regulatory label in the world to include use of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) for mutation testing (2014), enabling testing for approximately 25% of eligible lung cancer patients in whom a tumour sample is not evaluable

  Featured publications

Drug target genes associated with clinical phenotypes in the genetically isolated population of Finland more likely to succeed in pharmaceutical development

Drug target genes associated with clinical phenotypes in the genetically isolated population of Finland more likely to succeed in pharmaceutical development. R March, M Cunha, C Elks, A Platt, M Alanen-Kinnunen, S Lemmelä,  V Salomaa, P Jousilahti, M Daly, D Goldstein and A Palotie. ASHG 2017 Meeting abstract.

Lessons learned from the fate of AstraZeneca's drug pipeline

Lessons learned from the fate of AstraZeneca's drug pipeline: a five-dimensional framework. D Cook, D Brown, R Alexander, R E March, P Morgan, G Satterthwaite & M N Pangalos. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 13, 419-431 (June 2014) | doi:10.1038/nrd4309

Read more

Genome-wide pharmacogenetic investigation of a hepatic adverse event

Genome-wide pharmacogenetic investigation of a hepatic adverse event without clinical signs of immunopathology suggests an underlying immune pathogenesis. A Kindmark, A Jawaid, C G Harbron, B J Barratt, O F Bengtsson, T B Andersson, S Carlsson, K E Cederbrant, N J Gibson, M Armstrong, M E Lagerström-Fermér, A Dellsén, E M Brown, M Thornton, C Dukes, S C Jenkins, M A Firth, G O Harrod, T H Pinel, S M E Billing-Clason, L R Cardon and R E March. The Pharmacogenomics Journal (2008) 8, 186–195; doi:10.1038/sj.tpj.6500458

Read more

  Delivering for the future

Our deep scientific and regulatory expertise in diagnostic development and human biological samples represents a unique, industry-leading global organisation, enabling disruptive digital systems for the rapid advancement and approval of innovative new medicines for patients

Ruth March
Precision medicine

Precision medicine – targeting the right medicine to the right patient at the right time – is now a critical part of our approach to drug discovery.

What science can do

Stories from our people and our partners reveal the passion, energy and knowledge that enable us to put science at the heart of everything we do.

Our people

Our people share a common purpose: to push the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines.

Veeva ID: Z4-713068
Date of preparation: February 2025

Join AstraZeneca

and help us deliver life-changing medicines 

Be among our employees who continue to make us an innovation-driven company that stands firmly among the world’s leaders in biopharmaceuticals.

AstraZeneca careers