The Kenilworth, N.J., drugmaker said Robert Davis, currently executive vice president of global services and chief financial officer, will succeed Mr. Frazier as CEO, effective July 1.
“It has been a distinct honor and privilege to serve this great company as its CEO over the past decade,” Mr. Frazier said on the company’s earnings call Thursday.
Under Mr. Frazier’s leadership, Merck became a leader in the emerging field of cancer immunotherapy and in the development of the drug Keytruda, now one of Merck’s top sellers.
Keytruda, which treats lung and other cancers, totaled more than $14 billion in global sales last year.
Mr. Frazier, a lawyer who has led Merck since 2011, is among the few Black CEOs at S&P 500 companies and has been a leading industry voice in recent years encouraging companies to hire more Black employees. He has also steered Merck through criticism from politicians and patients about how the industry prices its medications.
