Departing Words: Merck’s Ken Frazier Cautions Against Profit Maximization

Pharma CEOs must balance optimizing access and profitability, former Merck CEO and soon-to-be ex executive chairman of the company said. Frazier says health care industry must come to table and admit the “system ain’t working,” talks about the need to protect democracy, in a sweeping interview at the STAT Summit.

Kenneth Frazier, Chairman of the Board and CEO of US pharmaceutical company Merck looks on during an event with the French-American Foundation in Paris on July 11, 2018. (Photo by ERIC PIERMONT / AFP) GettyImages-996036844
• Source: Eric Piermont/AFP via Getty Images

Drug industry CEOs must operate differently than the leaders of other businesses due to the role of medicines and ethics around medicine, said Merck & Co., Inc.’s outgoing executive chairman and former CEO Ken Frazier in a 16 November interview just two weeks ahead of his retirement from the pharmaceutical company.

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