“I am very pleased that Petra Wicklandt, an experienced executive from within the company, will represent Merck vis-à-vis politicians, associations and non-governmental organizations,” said Stefan Oschmann. Corporate Affairs consolidates the government and public affairs of the three business sectors as well as the Corporate Responsibility and Global Health activities of the Group. In the future, Corporate Affairs offices in Berlin, Brussels, Washington, Boston as well as Beijing and Shanghai will bolster Merck’s presence in the regions. The objectives of the new Group function are to provide even more efficient support to the businesses as they implement their objectives and to better steer Group-wide initiatives.

Petra Wicklandt joined Merck in 1994 and most recently served as Head of Global Chemical and Pharmaceutical Development. Her work focused on building a high-performance organization for the development of manufacturing methods and quality control for new active ingredients and dosage forms. Wicklandt studied pharmacy and earned a doctorate at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz.