The beginning of the end for us was Vioxx. COMET was another mistake. By now we know that the four horsemen of the apocalypse rode in with the merger. Ken was (for sure) a failure as head of GHH (never remotely approached planned projections for anything he launched). People were thinking at the time was that he saved the company with the Vioxx strategy. Now when you think abou tit it shows the only thing he saved us from was the plaintiff's attorneys. Just like the good lawyer he is. So, look - the marketplace, government and the brilliant scientists that used to be Merck's research team - they all left Merck after Vioxx. Dick Clark's crazy bid to hold off J&J from a hostile takeover by merging with S-P was when all hope for Merck really did go away - Ken has done pretty much nothing to make it better but he isn't to blame for the whole debacle.
2 replies (most recent on top)
Ken was a dusater.
The smartest ones saw this coming as the Vioxx saga unraveled and ran on their own. Layoffs followed, and many more will follow in 2015. Many more good ones were kicked to the curb somewhat later - it was the penalty for loyalty.