Pharma finance veteran Sylvia Kleemann is to leave Boehringer Ingelheim to join rival German pharma firm Merck KGaA as head of group tax at the beginning of 2014.
Kleeman served as head of corporate tax at Boehringer and has additional life sciences experience at KPMG, Celanese and Fresenius Medical Care.
In her new role, she will report to chief financial officer Matthias Zachert. She replaces Armin Gembruch who has been head of group tax since May 2011.
Zachert said: “Sylvia Kleemann has extensive experience in both the pharmaceutical and the chemical industries. At the same time, Sylvia Kleemann has a very broad understanding of both public and family-owned companies, which makes her ideally suited for her new position at Merck.”