Matthias is SVP, Head of Global Business Development & Alliance Management at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt Germany. His team ensures execution and management of global deals for all Merck Healthcare franchises in the therapeutic areas oncology, immuno-oncology, immunology, fertility, and general medicine.

Matthias is an entrepreneurial-minded, result-driven, and communication-strong pharma business development leader with more than 10 years of international experience. He successfully developed corporate partnering strategies and led negotiation teams on many transactions throughout his career, including transformative deals with deal-lifetime values of greater than $4 billion.

Matthias has directly negotiated key deals for Merck such as the alliances with Mersana and Sutro to enable Merck’s entry into the ADC space, the purchase of the oncology pipeline from Vertex, the NewCo formation of Telios Pharma, the licensing of Phase III asset Xevinapant from Debiopharm Group, and the co-development and co-commercialization agreement with GSK on Bintrafusp alfa. He has lived and worked in Germany, the U.S., England, and Gabon. Matthias holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from the Humboldt University Berlin and a MBA from Kellogg-School of Management, Northwestern University.