What can we help you find?

March 7, 2013 7:30 am ET

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada,
today announced the appointment of Roger M. Perlmutter, M.D., Ph.D., as
executive vice president and president of Merck Research Laboratories
(MRL), effective April 15. Dr. Perlmutter will succeed Peter S. Kim,
Ph.D., who has served in the role since 2003. To ensure a seamless
transition, Dr. Perlmutter and Dr. Kim will work closely together for an
initial period, after which Dr. Kim will remain with the company as an
advisor until his retirement in August.

“Roger is a world-class physician-scientist with a proven track record
of leading large research organizations and delivering a broad and
diverse pipeline of medicines,” said Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and
chief executive officer, Merck. “With his deep knowledge of the ongoing
changes in the industry’s external environment and their implications
for how we use R&D resources, Roger is ideally suited to lead Merck’s
global research and development. I am confident that under Roger’s
leadership, Merck will continue to build upon our legacy of translating
cutting edge science into medically important products that make a
difference for patients.”

Dr. Perlmutter was executive vice president and head of R&D at Amgen
Inc. from January 2001 to February 2012. During his tenure, Dr.
Perlmutter oversaw the development and subsequent approval of a number
of novel biologic and small molecule medicines in the areas of cancer,
endocrinology, hematology, inflammation and osteoporosis. Prior to
joining Amgen, he was executive vice president of worldwide basic
research and preclinical development at Merck. He joined Merck as a
senior vice president in February 1997.

Before assuming leadership roles in industry, Dr. Perlmutter was a
professor in the Departments of Immunology, Biochemistry and Medicine at
the University of Washington, where he also served as chairman of the
Department of Immunology and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute
investigator. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences and an elected Fellow of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. Dr. Perlmutter graduated from Reed College in
1973 and received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Washington University
in St. Louis in 1979.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to return to Merck and to lead
MRL,” said Dr. Perlmutter. “Throughout my career, as both a physician
and a scientist, I have drawn inspiration from Merck’s unwavering
commitment to scientific excellence. Over time, this commitment has
brought forth an unparalleled number of breakthrough medicines and
vaccines that improve the lives of patients around the world.”

Mr. Frazier also reiterated Merck’s commitment to delivering growth
through innovation. “Merck continues to focus on increasing the
productivity of our R&D investments to create value for patients,
customers and shareholders,” said Frazier. “Under Roger’s leadership, we
will continue to build and expand in key therapeutic areas, advance our
promising late-stage candidates and bring forth new therapeutic
candidates that will fuel our future pipeline.”

Dr. Kim joined MRL as executive vice president, Research and Development
in 2001 and was appointed president of MRL in 2003. Prior to joining
Merck, he served as a professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and was also a member of the Whitehead Institute and a Howard
Hughes Medical Institute investigator. While at Merck, Dr. Kim served as
a member of the Council of the Institute of Medicine of the National
Academy of Sciences, a member of the Board of Directors of the Whitehead
Institute for Biomedical Research and as a member of the Council of the
Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise.

During Dr. Kim’s tenure, Merck gained approval of more than 20 new
medicines and vaccines that have sustained the company’s growth and
significantly improved global health. These include JANUVIA
(sitagliptin), the first DPP-4 inhibitor for type 2 diabetes; GARDASIL
[Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16 and 18) Vaccine,
Recombinant], the first vaccine for prevention of cervical cancer;
ISENTRESS (raltegravir), the first HIV integrase inhibitor; ZOSTAVAX
(zoster vaccine live), the first herpes zoster vaccine for the
prevention of shingles in adults; RotaTeq (Rotavirus Vaccine, Live,
Oral, Pentavalent), an oral vaccine for the prevention of rotavirus
infection in infants; and VICTRELIS (boceprevir), the first oral
hepatitis C protease inhibitor. As of Feb. 22, 2013, Merck has 38
candidates in late-stage clinical development (Phase II and III).

“Peter has helped sustain Merck’s commitment to outstanding science and
innovation during a period of enormous change for our company and our
industry,” said Frazier. “His contributions have positioned us well for
future success. Over the past decade, Peter led MRL through an immense
transition in pharmaceutical research and development, oversaw important
advances in our use of new technologies, began leveraging external
innovation and led the creation of an integrated, industry-leading
pipeline following our merger with Schering-Plough.”

“I am deeply grateful to the incredibly talented and dedicated people of
MRL who have worked with me over the past 12 years on our mission of
delivering medicines and vaccines to improve human health around the
world,” said Kim. “I am very pleased with Roger’s appointment and
confident that he is the right person to lead MRL into the future, and
am committed to ensuring a seamless leadership transition for this truly
special organization and its great people.”

About Merck

Today’s Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be
well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada.
Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and
consumer care and animal health products, we work with customers and
operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health
solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to
healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For
more information, visit www.merck.com
and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Forward-Looking Statement

This news release includes “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based
upon the current beliefs and expectations of Merck’s management and are
subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying
assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize,
actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the
forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry
conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest
rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of
pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the
United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost
containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained
by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development,
including obtaining regulatory approval; Merck’s ability to accurately
predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays;
financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk;
dependence on the effectiveness of Merck’s patents and other protections
for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including
patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

Merck undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ
materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be
found in Merck’s 2012 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at
the SEC’s Internet site (www.sec.gov).

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20130307005594/en/

Merck
Media Contacts:
Steven Cragle, 908-423-3461
or
Investor Contacts:
Alex Kelly, 908-423-5185