Germany’s Merck KGaA has been working hard to expand its healthcare product pipeline in recent months, and has now appointed industry veteran David Weinreich to oversee that process.
Weinreich has been named global head of R&D and chief medical officer for Merck’s healthcare unit, joining the company from investment group Foresite Capital Management and its startup incubator Foresite Labs, where he was operating partner and senior advisor.
During his 20-year career, Weinreich has led the development of 15 approved drugs, founded multiple companies, and held senior executive roles at biopharma companies including Regeneron, Bayer, and Amgen.
He joins Merck at a time when the company has come under pressure to revitalise its pipeline following a series of setbacks, including the failure of multiple sclerosis (MS) candidate evobrutinib and xevinapant for cancer, both of which had reached phase 3 development.
With some of its main healthcare products like cancer therapy Erbitux (cetuximab) and MS therapy Mavenclad (cladribine) still delivering sales growth, but now very mature – they were launched in the mid-2000s and late-2010s, respectively – Merck has been looking externally for late-stage products.
Recent deals include its $3.9 billion takeover of SpringWorks, adding approved products Ogsiveo (nirogacestat) for desmoid tumours and Ezmekly (mirdametinib) for tumours associated with neurofibromatosis type, a $2 billion alliance with Skyhawk devoted to finding small-molecule drugs for neurological disorders, and a $1.6 billion oncology partnership with Jiangsu Hengrui.
Merck’s head of healthcare Danny Bar-Zohar, who was head of R&D and CMO before being elevated to lead the unit in February, said that Weinreich “brings an impeccable track record of leadership success to Merck, with a clear focus on patient impact and a people-first mindset.”
He added: “In David, we have a leader with a unique combination of deep scientific expertise, immense experience in drug development and successfully bringing drugs to the finish line, and global perspective – along with the clarity and boldness to shape a next-generation R&D strategy.”
Weinreich will be based in Billerica, Massachusetts at the company’s US R&D site.
