Bob Wilkening

Robert R Wilkening is a medicinal chemist, group leader and people manager with 35 years of experience working in lead optimization at Merck & Co., Inc. He worked extensively in the antibacterial area on the PRIMAXIN program, the Merck MRSA carbapenem program in which he designed and synthesized the key clinical candidate L392, and the Merck macrolide program in which he designed and synthesized the marketed BRD (bovine respiratory disease) agent GAMITHROMYCIN. Bob has also worked in the antifungal area, where he designed and synthesized the first orally active GS inhibitor Ibrexafungerp, approved by the FDA for vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) in 2021. He is principal or co-author on over 25 peer reviewed papers and an inventor on over 50 published or issued Merck patents. A total of seven compounds from his group have entered the clinic.