Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Biogen-Idec Adds "Ex-Merck-i-fier" -- To Its Board Of Directors


This particular Merckifier, Caroline Dorsa, was -- in her most recent health-care role -- a Senior Vice President, Global Human Health, Strategy and Integration at Merck, but went on to do a stint as EVP of Public Service Enterprise Group, during 2009. Now she has landed in the middle of Carl Icahn's scrum for Biogen Idec. Should be interesting:

. . . .Ms. Dorsa, 50, was named Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of PSEG, a publicly traded diversified energy company with annual revenues of more than $13 billion, in April 2009. Prior to that, she had served as Senior Vice President, Global Human Health, Strategy and Integration at Merck since early 2008. From 1987 to 2006, she served in various financial positions at Merck, including Vice President and Treasurer. In 2007, she was named Senior Vice President and CFO at Avaya, Inc. and then held the same positions at Gilead Sciences, Inc. before rejoining Merck in 2008. Earlier in her career, Ms. Dorsa worked for Mayor Ed Koch of the City of New York promoting economic development in midtown Manhattan. Ms. Dorsa holds a B.A. from Colgate University and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. . . .

Is she part of the crew aiding now-retiring CEO Jim Mullen (due to depart in June of 2010), or investor Carl Ichan? I bet you can guess which side I think she's been handpicked -- to help along.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

don't forget about C. Pickett~an Ex-Merck and ex-S/P.

condor said...

Actually, Cecil Pickett left the Biogen Idec board earlier in 2009, according to Boston.com:

. . . .The company will elect four directors next spring. It is also working to fill vacancies left by two other directors, Phillip Sharp and Cecil Pickett, who retired earlier this year [2009]. Those seats don’t come up for reelection next year. . . .

All of which raises a very interesting question: is she the current designee for a Merckie seat, on the Biogen board, now that Cecil Pickett has departed?

Great reminder, Anonymous!

Namaste