MSD has appointed Jessica Fine as executive director, external affairs for its UK operations.
She will join MSD, which operates as Merck & Co in the US, in April when she will replace Kate Tillett who retires early next year.
Fine will move to the pharma firm from Lexington Communications, on whose senior management team she sat and where she served as head of Lexington Health.
While there she led the health arm of the business and delivered strategic counsel to a range of organisations and providers across the healthcare sector. She was also highly commended in the Publicis Life Brands Resolute Award for Emerging Leader in Healthcare Communications at last year’s Communiqué Awards.
Mike Nally, managing director of MSD in the UK, said: “Jessica has a wealth of experience and expertise in healthcare communications and I’m looking forward welcoming Jessica and the leadership qualities that I know she will bring to this role.”
In her new role heading up MSD’s external affairs team in the UK, Fine will cover public affairs, policy and therapy area communications, external and internal communications.