Merck has made multiple management and organisational changes in its pharmaceutical businesses to maximise growth opportunities going forward.
Belén Garijo, currently Chief Operating Officer at Merck Serono, the biopharmaceutical division of Merck, has been appointed President and Chief Executive, effective from 1 October. She will succeed Stefan Oschmann, who as Member of the Executive Board and Head of Pharmaceuticals at Merck, will focus on further developing the Merck Serono and Consumer Health divisions as well as the Allergopharma and Biosimilars units.
As part of the organisational changes, the company has also appointed Dr Annalisa Jenkins, currently Head of Global Development and Medical, as Head of Global Research & Development, effective from 1 October. Under her leadership, Merck Serono aims to further integrate the two fields as a number of compounds in the division’s pipeline are reaching late-phase development.
'Following our transformational journey over the past two years, we have reached a critical juncture with accelerated profit growth at Merck Serono and a successful re-focusing of our Consumer Health division,' said Oschmann. 'I’m absolutely convinced that with today’s management and organisational changes we will be able to fully leverage the growth potential in our pharmaceutical businesses by focusing on fast-growing areas such as the emerging markets and the global allergy market or the rapidly evolving biosimilars market.'
Following the appointment of Jim Stewart as Chief Information Officer of the Merck Group at the end of last month, Thierry Hulot, Head of the Biosimilars unit, has been named to succeed Stewart as Head of Global Manufacturing & Supply, also from 1 October. Hulot will continue to lead the Biosimilars unit on an interim basis until a replacement has been announced. All global functions within Merck Serono – including R&D, Manufacturing & Supply, Operations and Business Development – will report to Garijo.
Garijo joined Merck Serono in 2011, previously serving as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Merck Serono, she was Senior Vice President, Global Operations Region Europe at Sanofi from 2006. In 2011, she took on the additional role of Global Integration Leader for the Genzyme acquisition.
Jenkins joined the company in 2011, previously serving as Head of Global Development and Medical. Prior to joining Merck Serono, she was Senior Vice President, Global Medical Affairs at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS).
Hulot joined Merck Santé in 1995 as Head of Pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism and was later appointed team leader for a Phase II programme, then Director of Global Early-Stage Projects and Project Management within the Merck Group. From 2010, he led Merck Serono’s CEO office until taking on his current role as head of the Biosimilars Unit in 2012.
