Dr Fiona Marshall heads up MSD's new UK research facility

MSD, known as Merck and Co in the US and Canada, has appointed Dr Fiona Marshall to lead its new discovery research facility in London, UK where she will drive efforts in entrepreneurial innovation and early bioscience discovery.

Dr Marshall joins the new venture from Sosei Group Corporation, where she was executive vice president and chief scientific officer, and she also co-founded Heptares Therapeutics, a biotechnology company, which was acquired by Sosei in 2015.

Dr Roger Perlmutter, president of MSD Research Laboratories, said: “Fiona’s exemplary scientific accomplishments and in-depth drug discovery experience will enable her to make important contributions to the scientific environment within MRL.

“We are pleased to welcome her to MSD, where she will set an enormously high standard as the leader of our new London-based, UK discovery research centre.”

Dr Marshall is currently the chair of UK Medical Research Council Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme Committee, and she is also on the Translational Advisory Groups of the Francis Crick Institute and the Wellcome Trust.

She said: “I am delighted to be joining MSD as it expands its discovery network into London.

“I relish the challenge of leading MRL”s new team of scientists in the UK as we embark upon the development of the new discovery centre in London.”

Prior to Heptares, Dr Marshall spent 12 years at GSK, where she held numerous roles including head of the department of molecular pharmacology.