NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Merck & Co (MRK.N) president Kenneth Frazier will succeed Richard Clark as the U.S. drugmaker's chief executive officer, effective Jan 1, the company said on Tuesday.
Frazier, 55, initially made his name at Merck as general counsel by steering the company safely through daunting litigation over its withdrawn Vioxx painkiller, and more recently led the company's high-profile global pharmaceuticals division.
His promotion, which also includes a position on the board, has been expected after the company named him president earlier this year. Clark, who in March turns 65, the mandatory company CEO retirement age, will continue as board chairman.
Frazier, who joined Merck in 1992, previously served as president of the company's global pharmaceuticals division starting in 2007 -- an appointment that expanded his responsibilities beyond legal matters.
In this role, according to Merck, Frazier helped design a new sales model and redeployed resources to emerging markets, where the drugmaker is targeting future growth.
Frazier, who also sits on the board of Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), served as the company's general counsel from 1999, a period that included Merck's withdrawal of Vioxx from the market because of an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
He helped the company fight off thousands of personal injury lawsuits related to the drug's use. Merck eventually settled the litigation for about $4.85 billion, billions less than investors had feared, boosting Frazier's profile within Merck and with Wall Street.
Clark became CEO in 2005, when the company was reeling from the Vioxx withdrawal.
As Merck's head of manufacturing, Clark was a fairly obscure figure when he was picked to replace then-CEO Ray Gilmartin in 2005.
But he emerged as one of the industry's most aggressive CEOs, controlling the Vioxx fallout and leading a cost-cutting and efficiency drive at the drugmaker.
His moves to acquire products outside of Merck's vaunted laboratories culminated in the $41 billion acquisition of rival U.S. drugmaker Schering-Plough Corp last year.
Merck shares were down 6 cents at $34.63 in thin premarket trading.
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