Merck Names Sanat Chattopadhyay President of Merck Manufacturing Division

On Mar 8, 2016

Kenilworth-based Merck, today announced the appointment of Sanat Chattopadhyay as executive vice president and president, Merck Manufacturing Division (MMD), effective April 1, 2016. Chattopadhyay will succeed Willie A. Deese who will retire on June 1, 2016 after 12 years with the company.

“With more than 30 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience, Sanat has a proven track record of commercialization, manufacturing and supply chain excellence in therapeutic proteins, vaccines and pharmaceuticals. Under his leadership I am confident that MMD will continue to advance toward its goal of becoming a world-class supplier,” said Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and chief executive officer, Merck.

Chattopadhyay joined Merck in 2009 and currently serves as senior vice president of Global Manufacturing Operations (Human Health). He was instrumental in transforming Merck Vaccines’ manufacturing and supply to grow and globalize the company’s vaccines business. Chattopadhyay also played a key part in leading the company’s launch of KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in record time by mobilizing a cross-divisional effort to overcome commercialization and supply constraints.

Deese joined Merck in 2004 to lead the global procurement team in MMD. In 2005, he was promoted to president of MMD and joined the company’s executive committee. Among his many accomplishments as president of MMD was the “Target ’15” strategy, a five-year program that improved both operational efficiencies in manufacturing and financial results. Additionally, Deese led the company’s multi-year, strategic initiative to sharpen its commercial and research and development focus, redesign its operating model and reduce its cost base. The initiative succeeded in exceeding its goal by the end of 2015 of realizing $2.5 billion in annual net cost savings versus 2012.

“Under Willie’s leadership, we significantly improved our ability to serve patients and customers globally and transformed our operating model,” said Frazier. “I would like to thank Willie for his unwavering focus on high performance, safety, compliance, and above all, customers and patients.”

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