Whitehouse Station, N.J., USA - November 30, 2010, Whitehouse Station, N.J., USA - Merck & Co., Inc., a pharmaceutical company, announced that it has elected Kenneth C. Frazier, currently president, as the CEO, president, and a member of the board, effective January 1, 2011.
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Mr. Frazier has served as president of Merck since May 2010. In this role, Mr. Frazier leads Merck’s three major divisions: Global Human Health, Merck’s pharmaceutical and vaccine business; Merck Manufacturing Division, Merck’s manufacturing and supply division; and Merck Research Laboratories, Merck’s research organization.
Prior to being appointed president, Mr. Frazier served as executive vice president and president, Global Human Health, from 2007 to 2010.
Mr. Frazier joined Merck in 1992 as vice president, general counsel and secretary of the Astra Merck Group. He was elected vice president of public affairs in 1994 and in 1997, assumed the additional responsibilities of assistant general counsel, corporate staff. Mr. Frazier was promoted to vice president and deputy general counsel in January 1999.
In December 1999, Mr. Frazier became senior vice president and general counsel. In this role, he oversaw Merck’s legal and public affairs functions and The Merck Company Foundation. In November 2006, he was promoted to executive vice president and general counsel.
Mr. Frazier sits on the board of directors of Exxon Mobil Corporation, The Pennsylvania State University and Cornerstone Christian Academy in Philadelphia, PA. Mr. Frazier also is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of the American Law Institute and the American Bar Association.
Mr. Frazier received his bachelor’s degree from The Pennsylvania State University and holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Mr. Frazier will succeed Richard T. Clark, who has served as Merck’s CEO since 2005 and will continue as chairman of the board.
Mr. Clark is the chairman and chief executive officer of Merck. Mr. Clark previously served as chairman, president and CEO until Mr. Frazier’s appointment as president in April 2009.
Prior to becoming president and CEO, Mr. Clark held the position of president of the Merck Manufacturing Division, with responsibility for Merck’s global network of manufacturing operations, information services and operational excellence organizations worldwide.
In a career spanning 38 years with Merck, Mr. Clark held a broad range of senior management positions within the company’s manufacturing organization. Mr. Clark joined Merck in 1972 as a quality control inspector, and he progressed through a series of increasingly responsible roles in the areas of production, new products planning, industrial engineering and management engineering, becoming vice president, Materials Management and Management Engineering in 1991.
In 1993, Mr. Clark was appointed vice president, Procurement and Materials Management. He became vice president of North American Operations for the Merck Manufacturing Division in 1994 and senior vice president in 1996. In 1997, he was appointed senior vice president of Quality and Commercial Affairs.
Later that year, Mr. Clark joined the Merck-Medco Managed Care subsidiary as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He later served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of the newly named Medco Health Solutions, overseeing plans to prepare that organization to become a publicly traded company. He returned to the Merck Manufacturing Division as president in June 2003.
From 2008 to 2009 he served as board chairman of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which represents the country’s leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies. ■