Merck KGaA appoints new chief after setbacks

Germany's Merck KGaA hired an executive from US peer Merck & Co as head of its drugs division to replace Elmar Schnee, following a string of setbacks in product development. Stefan Oschmann, aged 53, will be in charge of the group's prescription drug unit Merck Serono from January 1, 2011, and he will also head the OTC drugs unit Consumer Health Care, the company said on Monday.

It said that Schnee, at the helm of the pharmaceuticals unit since 2005, would leave the company for personal reasons but the departure comes after healthcare regulators rejected some of Merck KGaA's most promising development projects. The European drugs watchdog on September 24 dealt the German family-controlled group a blow by advising against the oral multiple-sclerosis treatment cladribine in the drug's potentially largest market. Last year, EU regulators came out against the use of Merck's blockbuster-hopeful Erbitux to fight lung tumours, the most common form of cancer. German-born Stefan Oschmann has been in charge of Merck & Co's emerging markets operations since 2009, Merck KGaA said.