Oct 26 (Reuters) – Merck & Co said on Wednesday that Chief Executive Officer Rob Davis will succeed Chairman Ken Frazier, who will take on additional duties starting Dec. 1.
Frazier, who has been a key driver of the drugmaker’s growth for decades, joined Merck about 30 years ago and became the first Black CEO of a major drug company in 2011.
He led the company through the dreaded litigation related to the discontinued painkiller Vioxx, and also played a key role in Merck’s 2009 acquisition of US drugmaker Schering-Plough, taking what would become a top seller of the company’s drug, Keytruda.
Frazier made headlines in 2017 when he became the first business leader to quit former US President Donald Trump’s manufacturing council following Trump’s comments at a white nationalist rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Reporting by Khushi Mandowara and Michael Erman in New Jersey; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)