Larisa Amir has been appointed Managing Director of Merck KGaA Healthcare R&D Center in Israel, the company announced on Sunday.
In her capacity, 55-year-old Amir will be responsible for managing the center across a range of disciplines, including finance, legal, investments, and infrastructures, while promoting research and development at the center.
She will also focus on in-house innovation and external scouting for technologies and biotechnology capabilities in Israeli startups, academia, hospitals and more, with the objective of advancing Merck KGaA Healthcare research and development.
A veteran R&D leader
Amir is a member of the Merck Global Healthcare Discovery Technology Leadership team, part of the company's global R&D effort.
She joined Merck KGaA in 2009 and has served in several local and international positions. In her last position at Merck KGaA headquarters in Germany, Larisa served as the Global Head of Products Quality LCM for Merck Healthcare marketed products as well as products in late stages of development.
Amir has extensive experience, from her diverse positions in a number of companies in the biotech industry, in fields such as process development, analytics, production, and regulation.
Amir has an M.Sc. in Biotechnology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MBA from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.