Merck KGaA has named former COO Belén Garijo its new president and CEO of the company’s biopharmaceutical division, Merck Serono. Garijo will succeed Stefan Oschmann, who will remain a member of the executive board and the head of pharmaceuticals at Merck.
In her new role, Dr. Belén Garijo, MD, will chair the Pharmaceutical Executive Committee as of October 1. She joined the company in 2011, previously serving as Chief Operating Officer.Prior to joining Merck Serono, Dr. Garijo was Senior Vice President, Global Operations Region Europe at Sanofi from 2006, based in Paris, serving as a member of the Management Committee for the Sanofi-Aventis Group, and as a member of the Management Board for the Sanofi-Pasteur vaccines JV with MSD. In 2011, she took on the additional role of Global Integration Leader for the Genzyme acquisition. Belén Garijo has been an Independent Member of the Board of Directors of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) since 2012.