Merck appoints EVP and president of consumer health care

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. Merck & Co. has appointed former Johnson & Johnson executive Bridgette Heller to serve as EVP and president of consumer health care, succeeding Stanley Barshay, who had postponed his planned retirement to serve in a transition role following the merger of Merck and Schering-Plough.

Effective March 1, Heller will report directly to Richard Clark, Merck's chairman, president and CEO, and will serve on the company’s executive committee.

Heller will leverage Merck’s consumer products brands to capitalize on new growth opportunities, including expanding the consumer business in markets outside the United States. Merck’s Consumer Health Care division includes a variety of household names, including Afrin, Claritin, Coppertone, Dr. Scholl's, MiraLax and Lotrimin.

Heller most recently served as president of Johnson & Johnson's Baby Global Business Unit, a post she held since 2007. Prior to that, she was Johnson & Johnson’s Global president, Baby, Kids and Wound Care. While at Johnson & Johnson, Heller led a global team across all functions of the business unit with worldwide revenues of more than $2.5 billion.

Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Heller was founder and managing partner at Heller Associates from 2004 to 2005, where she provided consumer-centric growth strategies for companies outside of the traditional consumer packaged goods arena. Previously, Heller was CEO and chairman of the board for Chung’s Gourmet Foods, the second largest U.S. egg roll manufacturer. Before that, Heller served as executive VP and general manager of the coffee division at Kraft Foods.

Prior to that, Keller held a variety of managerial roles at Kraft since 1985.