Merck Spinoff Organon, Name New Leaders

Three months ago, Merck (MRK) announced a spinoff business for its legacy brands, women’s health, and biosimilars. Working tirelessly toward the success of the company, Merck named two c-suite leaders for the Organon & Co spinoff: Matthew Walsh as the chief financial officer and Rachel Stahler as the chief information officer.

Both leaders were selected from the Madison-based Allergan. While Walsh will lead and execute all financial duties such as financial planning, treasury, investor relations, tax, audit and business development at Organon, Stahler will lead and execute the company’s technology strategy, as well as oversee Organon’s operations, infrastructure and delivery, working towards advancing digital capabilities within the company.

At Allergen Walsh served in the capacity of the executive vice president and chief financial officer with over 15 years of experience as a chief financial officer with a public company. He also has merger and acquisition experience, with 11 additions and integrations, and 5 divestitures, from his 9 years experience as the executive vice president and chief financial officer at Catalent.

Stahler served as the chief information officer at Allergen. She formerly served in the same capacity at other organizations including Syneos Health/Inventiv Health and Optimer Pharmaceuticals.

The chairman and chief executive officer at Merck Kenneth Frazier, in a prepared statement expressed his pleasure to have both new leaders on board for the new company.

“Their deep expertise and pharmaceutical industry knowledge make them both important additions to the team at this pivotal moment in Organon’s preparation to become an independent company focused on positively impacting the lives of patients and improving public health.”

Prior to now, Merck named Carrie Cox as chairman for the board at Organon, in March. The company also made six internal appointments for Organon’s executive leadership team, as plans to fully launch out are in progress. The spinoff is set to be completed by the first half of 2021, said Merck.