Eliav Barr

Senior Vice President, Global Clinical Development, Chief Medical Officer, MSD

Eliav Barr, M.D. is Senior Vice President, Global Clinical Development, Chief Medical Officer at Merck Research Laboratories (MRL). Dr. Barr oversees Phase 2 to 5 development programs for pipeline and in-line products in the Cardiovascular, Diabetes/Endocrine/Metabolism, Immunology, Neurology, Oncology, Psychiatry, Respiratory, and Vaccines/Infectious Diseases therapeutic areas. He is the Chairperson of the Late Development Review Committee, the Governance Committee overseeing Phase 2 to 5 activities across the pipeline. MRL’s Global Medical and Scientific Affairs Organization also reports to him.

Dr. Barr joined Merck in 1995 and in 1998 became the head of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine clinical program. The program resulted in the first demonstration that prophylactic administration of a vaccine targeting HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18 is highly effective in reducing cervical, vulvar, and vaginal cancer risk and genital wart rates caused by these types. He also initiated the development of Merck’s next-generation 9-valent HPV vaccine. Thereafter, Dr. Barr managed product development teams in Oncology and Infectious Diseases and then became Therapeutic Area Head for Infectious Diseases in 2013.  In 2016, Dr. Barr was appointed as Senior Vice President in charge of global clinical development of preventative/treatment approaches to Infectious Diseases at Merck. In 2018, he was named head of the Global Medical and Scientific Affairs Organization.

After receiving his undergraduate degree from Penn State University, Dr. Barr went on to earn his medical degree from the Jefferson Medical College in 1986 and completed an Internal Medicine residency at Johns Hopkins. He subsequently pursued post-doctoral training at the University of Michigan and was on faculty at the University of Chicago prior to joining Merck.