Sanat Chattopadhyay named president of Merck’s Manufacturing Division

Merck, or MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has named Sanat Chattopadhyay as its new EVP and president of Merck Manufacturing Division (MMD).

Chattopadhyay will be replacing Willie A. Deese, who is set to retire on June 1 after spending 12 years with the company. Chattopadhyay’s appointment as EVP and president will be effective on April 1.

Chattopadhyay has more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and has had success with commercialization, manufacturing and supply chains. This experience comes through working with therapeutic proteins, vaccines and pharmaceuticals. He started working at Merck in 2009 and is the current SVP of Global Manufacturing Operations for Human Health and played a key role in the transformation of Merck Vaccines’ manufacturing and supply to make it a worldwide business. He also played an important part in launching Merck’s KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab).

Deese began his career at Merck in 2004, leading the global procurement team. He was promoted to president of MMD in 2005 when he joined the company’s executive committee. He led the effort to improve research and development and redesigned the operating model to cut costs.