About

Merz Pharma is a pharmaceutical company with subsidiaries in England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, the US, Mexico, Russia and Asia and a turnover of €980m. Degenhardt not only heads a team of lawyers but is also in charge of the trade mark department. One of the most distinct changes she has implemented is the ‘clear allocation of responsibilities and internal go-to contacts’, and has also clearly defined response times to be met. Highlights, apart from successfully completed transactions, were complex licensing projects, always with a keen eye on the challenge to continuously optimise processes regarding quality and efficiency. Maybe this is the reason why she identifies the need for a ‘significant simplification of written communication and legal opinions’ when working with law firms.