New Merck & Co UK head lined up as Louise Houson heads for US vaccines role

Louise Houson, who for three years has been the managing director (MD) for UK and Ireland at US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK), has taken up a new USA-based role as global brand leader for HPV vaccines.

Her successor in the UK and Ireland MD role is David Peacock, who was most recently chief of staff to Kenneth Frazier, chairman of the board and chief executive of Merck & Co, and he has held other significant roles with the company including heading up its operations in Hong Kong and Macau.

Mr Peacock was also chief financial officer for Japan for MSD, which is the name that Merck & Co goes by outside North America.