Belén Garijo, MD
Chair, Executive Board and CEO, Merck KGaA
Chair, Executive Board and CEO, Merck KGaA
Belén Garijo is Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. She joined the company in 2011 as Chief Operating Officer of the Biopharma business, becoming President and CEO of Healthcare in 2015. In July 2020, Belén Garijo was appointed Vice Chairman of the Executive Board and Deputy CEO in addition to her role as CEO of the Healthcare business. She moved from Deputy CEO to CEO in May 2021.
Under her leadership, Healthcare at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has become a key player in the area of oncology, immunology and immuno-oncology, after the profound repositioning of the portfolio, the reorganization of R&D and the transformation of the commercial model. Belén Garijo has forged two major global alliances to further contribute to the portfolio’s maximization. She has also focused on globalization by expanding the business to growth markets as well as to Japan and the U.S.
Before joining Merck, Belén Garijo served as the Senior Vice President of Global Operations Europe at Sanofi-Aventis and Global Integration Leader of Genzyme after its acquisition by Sanofi. She previously held several local and global executive positions, both in R&D and commercial, at various companies at the forefront of the Healthcare sector.
She started her career as a practicing physician at La Paz hospital in Madrid before moving to the pharmaceutical industry. She is a medical doctor, specialized in clinical pharmacology.
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Merck KGaA
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, the vibrant science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 53,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2017, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of € 15.3 billion in 66 countries.
The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark “Merck” internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Performance Materials. Since its founding 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company’s technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. For more information about Merck, KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, visit www.emdgroup.com.