John Barry BS, MBA

John Barry is the Head of Vendor Strategy and Management for Merck Research Laboratories and currently looks over a sourcing spend in excess of $1B (USD) across a variety of functional and programmatic sourcing models. Approximately 65% of Merck’s clinical development portfolio is executed via external suppliers using these sourcing models. As an active member of ASAP, John brings an alliance management orientation to Merck’s supplier alliances to ensure that the strategic plans of these partnerships drive meaningful value to the company. Just as important, vendor management is also in place to ensure consistent and reliable delivery within and across the supplier portfolio. He comes to Merck with more than 20 years of supplier side experience working for two of the top five global CROs. Throughout his career at these CROs he was responsible for or an executive leader in a variety of functions including Alliance Management, Business Development, Clinical Operations, Contracts, Proposals and Legal. Notably, he was responsible for creating and leading a new profit center focused on functional service model provision for Quintiles and grew that division to more than 1,100 professionals in under 14 months. His is well-versed in a variety of contract structures including value based contracting and has significant experience negotiating innovative commercial and capital models. Barry has a B.S. from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.