Merck KGaA's biopharmaceutical division has appointed Luciano Rossetti, MD, as executive vice president and global head of research & development as of July 21, 2014. He will be based in Billerica, outside Boston, Massachusetts, and share his time between Merck KGaA's headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany and Billerica, one of the company's biopharmaceutical division's four global R&D hubs

In his most recent role Rossetti was senior vice president late stage development at Merck Sharp & Dohme, or MSD (in the U.S. Merck & Co.). In this position, he was responsible for the entire clinical development across all therapeutic areas. At MSD, he played a key role in shaping and implementing the development strategy of several potential breakthrough compounds such as anti PD-1. He also restructured the clinical genetics group to better leverage the collaboration between discovery and clinical development. Before joining MSD in 2006, Rossetti was an internationally recognized academic scientist for 18 years

Source: Merck KGaA