Burkhard has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. He is currently Director of Engineering & Technology at Merck Serono in Aubonne, Switzerland, where he leads global maintenance and large-scale biotech projects. Previously, he held technical and managerial roles at Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, and Hoechst AG.

I am a highly accomplished, results-driven senior leader in the global life sciences industry with expertise in engineering and asset lifecycle management. Building high-performing leadership teams, I am focused on developing and empowering people while embracing diversity and inclusion. I am recognized for developing strategy, transforming organizations, and creating sustainable operating models.

Working in numerous international environments throughout my career, I am skilled in cross-cultural collaboration and easily adapt to the unique needs of diverse cultures. I incorporate Lean and Agile methods to build a culture and mindset of continuous improvement.

My focus is on building leadership capabilities and career succession plans and am proud to see my teams succeed. I create and execute strategy that supports the core business of life sciences and ensure that the enterprise consistently delivers life-saving medicines to patients.

Life is a beautiful gift and health is what allows us to enjoy it. That is why we are deeply committed to helping patients. No matter how complex or rare the disease may be, we don‘t give up. Our ~17,800 Healthcare employees wake up every day motivated by our purpose: To help create, improve and prolong lives – as one for patients. We are the Healthcare business of Merck, and the only pharmaceutical company that is developing solutions along the whole “circle of life”. For over 350 years, patients have always been at the heart of everything we do. Our pioneering work in cancer treatment is focused on discovering, developing and delivering science-driven breakthrough therapies that turn cancer patients into cancer survivors. Our tireless passion for R&D as well as a creative and focused approach help accelerate innovation in oncology and immuno-oncology. To realize our ambition, we’ve created a balanced portfolio. Our core business helps provide a strong foundation, fund innovation and mitigate risks. Our specialty portfolio enables us to be on the frontlines of change and truly become a specialty innovator. We have a proud history of advancing care in immunology for people living with chronic progressive diseases such as multiple sclerosis. For more than two decades we have maintained our commitment to delivering innovative solutions across treatment, devices, and support services. This dedication drives the research and development of our pipeline products and our efforts to address areas of unmet medical need. Today, we are a global market leader in the field of fertility treatments. Our therapeutic portfolio, devices and advanced fertility technologies have helped many couples achieve their dream of having a baby. Everyone should have the opportunity to become a parent. To date, more than 5 million babies have been brought into the world with the help of our leading fertility products.

Takeda is a world-leading, value-driven, research-based biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan. Takeda's mission is to develop, manufacture and supply life-enhancing and life-sustaining medicines for the treatment of rare and complex diseases. Takeda seeks to improve people's lives by bringing to market new and better medicines that help to address the nation's most pressing healthcare needs. Their focus is on the areas of oncology, gastroenterology and diabetes.