Roger Perlmutter is pictured in this handout photo courtesy of Merck & Co. Merck, after recent setbacks for some of its most important experimental drugs, said former Amgen Inc research chief Roger Perlmutter will take over from head of research and development, retiring Peter Kim, on April 15, although Kim will stay on as a company advisor until August.
This undated photo provided by Merck & Co. shows Dr. Roger Perlmutter, the company's newly named director of research and development. The world's third-biggest drugmaker by revenue says Perlmutter, a former research executive at Merck and Amgen Inc., will begin running Merck Research Laboratories on April 15.
This Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 photo, shows a Merck scientist's lab coat in West Point, Pa. Merck & Co. Inc. reports quarterly financial results before the market opens on Wednesday, May 1, 2013.
File photo of the Merck & Co. campus in Linden, New Jersey March 9, 2009. Merck & Co Inc's quarterly results released February 1, 2013 beat estimates, helped by strong sales of its Januvia diabetes drug and Gardasil vaccine against cervical cancer, but the company forecast 2013 profit at the low end of expectations.
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 28: (L-R) Archer Daniels Midland President and CEO Patricia Woertz, Merck President and CEO Ken Frazier and Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Douglas Oberhelman arrive at the White House for a meeting with President Barack Obama and other business leaders November 28, 2012 in Washington, DC. According to the White House, the American business executives met with Obama to discuss economic growth and deficit reduction.
A view of the Merck & Co. campus in Linden, New Jersey in this March 9, 2009 file photo, after Merck & Co Inc said it would acquire Schering-Plough Corp in $41.1 billion deal, widening Merck's pipeline and diversifying its portfolio of medicines. Merck & Co Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit October 26, 2012, as one-time tax gains helped offset plunging sales of its former flagship product, Singulair, an asthma drug that began facing cheaper generics in August.