Merck today announced that Petra Wicklandt will take over the leadership of the new Merck Group Function “Corporate Sustainability, Quality and Trade Compliance”, effective October 2021

• Current Head of Corporate Affairs Petra Wicklandt will lead the new function
• Head of Environment, Health, Safety and Quality Andreas Kruse will retire as planned at the end of 2021
• Corporate Affairs and Group Communications to become one global function
• Group Communications Head Thomas Möller has decided to accept an external offer and will leave Merck beginning of next year

DARMSTADT, GERMANY — Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced that Petra Wicklandt will take over the leadership of the new Merck Group Function “Corporate Sustainability, Quality and Trade Compliance”, effective October 2021. It will cover all Environment, Health, Safety, Quality and Regulatory Compliance aspects at a corporate level. Sustainability which Wicklandt already manages in her current role as Head of Corporate Affairs, will become an essential part of the new function. In her new role, Petra Wicklandt will continue to report directly to Belén Garijo, Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck.

“Our dedication to Sustainability paired with our commitment to Quality, Regulatory Excellence and Compliance are critical focus areas for Merck. Combining these strategic elements under Petra Wicklandt’s leadership will ensure an effective and efficient execution of our strategy and enable us to cater to the increasing ESG expectations of customers, patients, employees, investors and the general public,” said Garijo.

Petra Wicklandt is a doctor of pharmacy, joined Merck in 1994 and has extensive professional experience in chemical and pharmaceutical development and production, government relations, global health and sustainability management. With her team, she developed Merck’s well-received sustainability strategy which was launched last year.

Andreas Kruse, current Head of Environment, Health, Safety and Quality (EHSQ), will retire as planned at the end of the year after 32 years at Merck. Prior to taking over this functional responsibility in 2019, Kruse served as Managing Director of Merck Korea and Head of Operations in the Performance Materials business sector.

“Over many years, Andreas Kruse has consistently delivered a great performance. He has led our global Covid-19 crisis management team in an outstanding way. I would like to thank Andreas for his manifold contributions and wish him all the best for his future,” said Garijo.

The two functions Corporate Affairs and Group Communications will be combined moving forward. Thomas Möller who is currently leading Group Communications, has decided to accept an external offer and will leave Merck beginning of next year.

“I would like to warmly thank Thomas Möller for five excellent years of service in our company. Communication at Merck has very positively developed under his leadership and has most recently significantly contributed to a smooth CEO transition. I wish him all the very best for his next career step,” said Garijo.

The Head of the new Global Communications & Corporate Affairs function will be announced in due course.

About Merck

Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and electronics. Around 58,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2020, Merck generated sales of € 17.5 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck’s technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics.