Merck Serono names new research and development head

Merck Serono has announced the appointment of Dr Luciano Rossetti as its new executive vice-president and global head of research and development, effective as of July 21st 2014.

Dr Rosetti joins the company from Merck Sharp and Dohme, where he served as senior vice-president for late-stage development, taking responsibility for the entire clinical development of products from phase II to phase V across all therapeutic areas.

He played a key role in the creation of potential breakthrough compounds such as Anti PD-1, while he also led a strategically beneficial restructuring of the company's clinical genetics group.

In his new role, Dr Rossetti will be based in Billerica in Massachusetts – one of Merck Serono's four global research hubs – and share his time between this location and the firm's headquarters in Darmstadt.

Belen Garijo, president and chief executive officer at Merck Serono, said: "His breadth of experience and solid track record in both research as well as development, together with his distinct leadership profile, will be instrumental in driving the development of our promising pipeline."

This comes after the company's former global head of clinical development Dr John Orloff departed to take up a role at Baxter BioScience earlier this month.