Dirk Laurent MD, serves as Head of Global Clinical Development Oncology at Merck KGaA / EMD Serono. In this role, he is responsible for the Clinical Development of all oncology pipeline assets of the company from First in Human up to Phase 3, and beyond.​
Dirk is an MD who received his medical training in Internal Medicine and Radiation Oncology at the Medical University Clinics in Berlin and Göttingen, Germany. ​His first industry position was with Schering AG where he served as Global Clinical Lead with increasing responsibilities covering all aspects of early and late oncology development. From 2007-2019 Dirk worked at Bayer, first as Head of Clinical Development Oncology, where he supervised the development of Bayer’s late-stage oncology pipeline assets, then as Head of the Experimental Medicine Oncology group, where he was responsible for the global early clinical portfolio in Oncology from First in Human trials until Proof of Concept. From 2017 – 2019 he headed the Translational Medicine Oncology department, overseeing Early Clinical Development including Clinical Biomarkers and Clinical Pharmacology.​ Before joining Merck KGaA in 2022, Dirk has been working for Berlin-Chemie / Menarini, as Medical Director of Research and Development Oncology and Head of the Therapeutic Area Oncology, responsible for strengthening and building up the early and late oncology pipeline.