Udit Batra will become Head of Merck’s Consumer Health Care Division as of September 1, 2011. He will succeed Peter Shotter, who has decided to leave the company by the end of 2011, and report to Stefan Oschmann, Executive Board Member and responsible for the pharmaceutical business.

Udit Batra obtained his PhD from Princeton University, NJ, USA, after completing a degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware, USA. He started as a research engineer at Merck & Co. (outside North-America: MSD). In 2001, he joined McKinsey, where he worked across the healthcare, consumer and non-profit sectors as a senior engagement manager. In 2004, he became global brand director for the Wound Care Franchise at Johnson & Johnson. In 2006, he joined Novartis where he was the global head of corporate strategy at Novartis headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, as well as country president in Australia. In 2009, he was appointed as head of global public health and market access for the Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics business in Boston, where he also was a member of the Global Executive Committee.
Udit Batra was born in India and is a US citizen.

• Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany