Chief executive promotion at Merck KGaA
pharmafile | March 24, 2015 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Karl-Ludwig Kley, Merck, Merck KGaA, Merck Serono, Stefan Oschmann, chief executive
Merck KGaA is to promote its deputy chief executive Stefan Oschmann to replace Karl-Ludwig Kley in the top job next year according to unconfirmed reports.
Reuters has noted that Oschmann will take over Kley’s role following the German drugmaker’s annual shareholder meeting in April 2016 – either then or a few months later in September when Kley’s contract ends.
It wasn’t long ago that Pharmafile reported Oschmann’s previous promotion last year when he was moved to the deputy role, along with holding the vice chairman title. For this latest news the company told Pharmafile there is nothing to add at this stage, thereby not denying it is likely to be confirmed soon.
Oschmann shares strategic management functions with Kley and together they represent the company with politicians and international organisations.
The company is yet to reveal any plans for Kley’s replacement, but a Merck spokesman did tell Reuters it is yet to make a decision on his successor and that a family-controlled group’s board of partners would oversee the search.
Prior to joining Merck KGaA in 2011, Oschmann was in charge of US Merck & Co’s emerging markets operations. The two companies share historic roots but are under separate ownership.
Speaking during his previous promotion, Johannes Baillou who is the chairman of the board of partners at Merck, said: “Stefan Oschmann who has successfully reorganised our pharma businesses over the past years will familiarise himself with group-wide functions and will increasingly assume external responsibilities for the company.”
Musical boardroom chairs
This appointment rumour arrives amid seemingly ongoing boardroom shuffles taking place across big pharma. Just last month Bayer chairman Olivier Brandicourt was named as Sanofi’s new chief executive to replace Chris Viehbacher – who was himself ejected from the role in October.
Brandicourt was replaced by Werner Baumann at Bayer, who held key pharma positions prior to his role at the firm, including stints at Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert and Pfizer.
Bayer is also looking for a replacement for chief executive Dr Marijn Dekkers who is poised to leave the company next year.
And then there’s Bristol-Myers Squibb’s chief operating officer Giovanni Caforio, who will be stepping in to Lamberto Andreotti’s shoes as chief executive from May as he becomes executive chairman instead.
Earlier this month, Japanese pharma giant Takeda has added the title of chief executive to its representative director, president and chief operating officer Christophe Weber – who starts the big promotion in April.
Weber joined Takeda last year having been at GSK for 20 years, lastly as the president of its vaccines division in Belgium. The announcement meant Weber becomes the first non-Japanese leader in Takeda’s 230-year history.
Brett Wells
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