Senior Manager - Clinical Research

A day in the life of a Merck R&D chief. Dr. Eliav Barr pulls back the curtain on what it's like to manage Merck's fast-growing pipeline. Published Oct. 9, 2026 Welcome to "Day in the Life," a series examining what it's like to walk in a pharma exec's shoes. Today, PharmaVOICE is going behind the scenes with Dr. Eliav Barr, senior vice president, head of global clinical development and chief medical officer of Merck Research Laboratories, on how the AIDS crisis led him to pharma, his busy travel schedule and what keeps him grounded. Dr. Eliav Barr was "preordained" to work in medicine. His father was a doctor, his mother a nurse, and it was understood that their eldest son would follow in their footsteps, he said. But Barr wanted to do it his "own way," and after finishing an accelerated medical school program, he soon realized his fate actually belonged to pharma. It was the 80s. The AIDS crisis had kicked into full gear. And although Barr was trained as a cardiologist, his work as a young doctor confronting the horrors of the epidemic turned his attention to the infectious disease arena. "It was one of the most heartbreaking and awful periods of time in medicine for a variety of reasons," he explained. "AIDS robs people of their dignity in so many ways. As a gay man, it was really hard to watch so many people die a horrible death." Seeing patients is a "holy thing," Barr acknowledged. But Barr knew he could have a wider impact by gearing his efforts toward public health. "I wanted to do something big. So I did," he said. After a postdoctoral training at University of Michigan and a faculty position at University of Chicago, Barr made the leap into drug development, landing a job at Merck. Thirty-one years later, he's still there. Barr's worldview has also been shaped by early experiences in his mother's life. A Holocaust survivor whose town was invaded by Germans when she was four, Barr's mother endured "everything that was horrible," he said. "She was a very fierce lady," Barr said. "She taught me that you never give up. You do the best you can, you work hard, you persevere. And at the end of the day, you will be measured by your legacy." Barr began to cement his legacy by playing a hand in developing the vaccine that became Gardasil, which was designed to prevent infection with certain human papillomavirus and cancers linked to them. Now he's juggling quite a bit more. As senior vice president, head of global clinical development and chief medical officer of Merck Research Laboratories, the large pharma's R&D arm, Barr is helping to lead clinical development for a quickly swelling pipeline with over 50 programs. Growth in Merck's R&D machine is being fueled by a push to fill a looming patent gap for its flagship blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda, which has sent the company on a dealmaking streak. Most recently, Merck paid $400 million upfront in late September for global rights to SciBrunch Therapeutics' preclinical KRAS G12D inhibitor in a deal that could ultimately be worth over $2.1 billion. "The size and scope of the pipeline has dramatically increased relative to when I took over," Barr said. "So being able to scale up both my ability to process information and have the team around me function at 100% is really important." Here's a peek behind the scenes of Barr's daily life, how he's navigating the growing complexity of his work and what he does for fun after hours. A look at Barr's life on the job. His typical day: Every day is something. I have a lot of meetings about how to design its studies and about data coming from the studies. I see a lot of doctors and clinical scientists. I talk to people around the world who tell me about issues coming up with trials and how to solve them. I get to ask for money from my management to fund all of its trials. And the past few months, I have been really involved with understanding the power of AI and how to use AI to benefit the quality, speed and accuracy of its clinical programs. But I travel about 40% of the time. Travel usually involves visiting one of the places PharmaVOICE do clinical trials, which is in 50 countries. A lot of my travels are to Latin America and Asia. What's really fantastic is that you get to see the work people do, their pride in the research and understand how medicine is done around the world. It's a very intimate thing. You go to a hospital. You see what it means to be sick there. You learn how to administer care, what the problems are, the unmet medical needs, the technical issues and the barriers between a drug you developed and it being administered.

6,402 shares in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK bought by Meadowbrook Wealth Management LLC. Meadowbrook Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 6,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $878,000. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.9% of Meadowbrook Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 226,999,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,169,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,507 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,413,256 shares of the company's stock worth $15,573,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,583 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,249,283 shares of the company's stock worth $11,083,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934,312 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 30,774,221 shares of the company's stock worth $3,701,831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,919,780 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,546,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,162,691,000 after purchasing an additional 701,249 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock. Merck & Co., Inc. news summary. Here are the key news stories impacting Merck & Co., Inc. this week: * The FDA approved the combination of Merck's WELIREG and LENVIMA for adults with advanced renal cell carcinoma previously treated with PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. The approval expands Merck's oncology portfolio and could create additional revenue opportunities. Merck also started a first-in-human Phase I trial using Cyprumed's oral peptide-delivery platform, adding a new pipeline initiative. * Morgan Stanley maintained an "overweight" rating and a $177 price target despite trimming its target from $179, implying substantial potential upside based on the referenced price. Cantor Fitzgerald also raised its target to $145, although it retained a neutral rating. * Value-focused coverage comparing Merck with Innoviva highlights the investment trade-off between Merck's scale and established products and concerns about valuation and future growth. * A Dutch court issued an injunction blocking Merck from selling subcutaneous Keytruda in eight European markets following Halozyme's patent dispute. The ruling could delay or restrict commercialization of the newer formulation and increases legal and competitive risk around Merck's most important product. * Industry coverage identifies Merck as particularly exposed to near-term generic competition as major patents expire. That patent-cliff risk may weigh on longer-term growth expectations, especially given Keytruda's importance to the company. Merck & Co., Inc. stock down 0.2%. Discover more Account Management Tools Local Business Directory Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Thursday, hitting $142.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,404,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,662,183. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.01 and a 52 week high of $156.92. The company has a market capitalization of $351.45 billion, a PE ratio of 113.96, a P/E/G ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.32. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.13. The business had revenue of $16.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 4.77% and a return on equity of 16.73%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.660-2.760 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year. Merck & Co., Inc. dividend announcement. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 272.00%. Analyst ratings changes. Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. HSBC lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $151.32. Insider buying and selling. In related news, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 80,315 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.46, for a total value of $10,718,839.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,509 shares in the company, valued at $6,073,631.14. This represents a 63.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Williams sold 52,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.77, for a total value of $6,805,108.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,084,069.32. This trade represents a 62.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 228,238 shares of company stock worth $29,977,783 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock. Merck & Co., Inc. profile. Merck & Co, Inc is a global healthcare company that develops and markets prescription medicines, vaccines, and animal-health products. The company serves patients, healthcare providers, and customers in markets around the world, with research and commercial operations spanning multiple geographic regions. Its pharmaceutical portfolio includes oncology, infectious-disease, cardiovascular, immunology, and other therapeutic areas. Key products include Keytruda, an oncology treatment; Gardasil, a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine; Januvia and Janumet for type 2 diabetes; Bridion for anesthesia-related use; and Winrevair for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MRK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Merck & Co. Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Merck & Co. Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

Halozyme wins injunction stopping manufacture and sale of Merck's Keytruda SC in multiple European markets. Oct 07, 2026, 08:30 ET SAN DIEGO, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HALO) ("Halozyme" or the "Company") announced today that the specialized Dutch patent court of the Hague has found Merck to be infringing one of its MDASE patents, EP 2,797,622 (EP622) and ordered Merck's central European Market Authorization Holder and worldwide packaging and distribution hub MSD BV to refrain from manufacturing, having manufactured, offering, placing on the market and using, or importing or stocking for these purposes, Keytruda SC in Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The injunction also forbids MSD to facilitate infringement by its affiliates, including by allowing the use of its European Marketing Authorization. The court also rejected Merck's arguments that EP622 patent is invalid. "We're very pleased the Dutch court recognized the validity and infringement of Halozyme's MDASE patent EP622 and granted an injunction halting Merck's launch of Keytruda SC in multiple European markets. The MDASE technology was developed through years of rigorous research to enable rapid, high-volume subcutaneous drug delivery," said Mark Snyder, Chief Legal Officer of Halozyme. Importantly, patients who want to use Keytruda will still have access to the IV version of Keytruda, which is not covered by Halozyme's patent or the court's injunction order. The Dutch proceedings are part of Halozyme's global enforcement of its MDASE(TM) patents against infringement by Merck's Keytruda SC. Halozyme previously sued Merck in Germany and was granted a preliminary injunction on December 4, 2025, stopping Merck's launch of Keytruda SC in Germany. Halozyme has also sued Merck for patent infringement in U.S. federal district court in New Jersey. In that case, Halozyme alleges the subcutaneous formulation of Keytruda, which is being marketed in the U.S. as QLEX, infringes 15 patents that Halozyme filed beginning in 2011 to protect its MDASE(TM) technology. The patents at issue arise from Halozyme's extensive research into nearly 7,000 modifications to human hyaluronidases. Among their uses, these hyaluronidases pioneered by Halozyme provide a mechanism for the rapid SC administration of therapeutic drugs. Halozyme's comprehensive studies and innovations were a significant advancement to the field of human-derived hyaluronidases. The MDASE(TM) patents are not included in Halozyme's ENHANZE(R) licensing program and are distinct from its ENHANZE(R) patents. Therefore, the outcome of the global enforcement of its MDASE(TM) patents against Merck will not impact the ability of any licensee to use ENHANZE(R), or the license fees for use of ENHANZE(R) patents. About Halozyme Halozyme is a biopharmaceutical company advancing disruptive solutions to improve patient experiences and outcomes for emerging and established therapies. As the innovators of ENHANZE(R) drug delivery technology with the proprietary enzyme rHuPH20, Halozyme's commercially-validated solution facilitates the subcutaneous delivery of injected drugs and fluids, reducing treatment burden and improving convenience. ENHANZE(R) has touched more than one million patient lives through ten commercialized products across over 100 global markets and is licensed to leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies including Roche, Takeda, Pfizer, Janssen, AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, argenx, ViiV Healthcare, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Acumen Pharmaceuticals, Merus N.V., GSK, and Incyte. Halozyme expanded its drug delivery technology portfolio to develop partner products using Hypercon(TM) and Surf Bio's hyperconcentration technology, recently renamed as Aerocon(TM). Hypercon(TM) is an innovative microparticle technology expected to set a new standard in hyperconcentration of drugs and biologics by reducing injection volume for the same dosage and enabling administration in at-home and healthcare-provider settings. Aerocon's polymer-based hyperconcentration technology further broadens the range of biologics that can be delivered subcutaneously, meaningfully expanding the scope of opportunities across therapeutic modalities. Together, Hypercon(TM) and Aerocon(TM) complement ENHANZE(R) by enabling creation and delivery of highly concentrated biologics. The Hypercon(TM) technology has been licensed to leading biopharmaceutical partners, including Janssen, Eli Lilly, argenx, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Oruka Therapeutics. Halozyme also develops, manufactures and commercializes drug-device combination products using advanced auto-injector technologies designed to improve convenience, reliability and tolerability, enhancing patient comfort and adherence. The Company has two proprietary commercial products, Hylenex(R) and XYOSTED(R), partnered commercial products and ongoing development programs with Teva Pharmaceuticals and McDermott Laboratories Limited, an affiliate of Viatris Inc. Halozyme is headquartered in San Diego, CA, with offices in Ewing, NJ; Minnetonka, MN; and Boston, MA. Minnetonka is also the site of its operations facility. Safe Harbor Statement In addition to historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements concerning the possible activity, benefits and attributes of Halozyme's ENHANZE(R) and MDASE(TM) drug delivery technologies, the possible method of action of these technologies, their potential application to aid in the dispersion and absorption of other injected therapeutic drugs, and statements concerning certain other potential benefits of these technologies including facilitating more rapid delivery of high-volume injectable medications through subcutaneous delivery and potentially easing the treatment burden for patients and improving patient outcomes. These forward-looking statements include statements with respect to the decision of a Dutch court to order MSD BV to refrain from manufacturing, having manufactured, offering, placing on the market and using, or importing or stocking for these purposes, Keytruda SC in Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and forbidding MSD BV to facilitate infringement by its affiliates, including by allowing the use of its European Marketing Authorization, the decision of a German court to issue a preliminary injunction ordering Merck to refrain from distributing and offering Keytruda SC in Germany, and statements with respect to the strength and validity of Halozyme's intellectual property. These forward-looking statements also include statements with respect to Halozyme's patent infringement suit against Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, to enforce Halozyme's patent rights, including Halozyme's allegation that Merck's SC Keytruda infringes multiple Halozyme patents and Halozyme's belief that the outcome of the lawsuit will not impact its ENHANZE(R) licensing program or the revenues Halozyme receives from ENHANZE(R) licensees. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties beyond Halozyme's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are typically, but not always, identified through use of the words "expect," "believe," "enable," "may," "will," "could," "intends," "estimate," "anticipate," "plan," "predict," "probable," "potential," "possible," "should," "continue," and other words of similar meaning. Actual results could differ materially from the expectations contained in forward-looking statements as a result of several factors and Halozyme can offer no assurance with respect to such forward-looking statements and cautions the reader not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. In particular, there can be no assurance as to developments related to the litigation referred to in this press release, the outcome of the litigation or any remedies that could be awarded in connection with the litigation. Actual results could also differ materially from expectations contained in this press release as a result of other risks and uncertainties including those related to future decisions by Dutch courts with respect to the decisions of the Dutch court referred to in this press release, the courts in Germany with respect to the preliminary injunction referred to in this press release, the strength, enforceability and validity of our patents, future revenues and the cost of litigation. These and other factors that may result in material differences from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are discussed in greater detail in Halozyme's most recent Annual and Quarterly Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Halozyme undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release. Tram Bui VP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications 609-333-7668 [email protected] SOURCE Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.