Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the U.S. and Canada, and Mayo Clinic, the world's top-ranked hospital system, today announced a research and development agreement to apply artificial intelligence (AI), advanced analytics and multimodal clinical data to support drug discovery and development. The agreement integrates Mayo Clinic's Platform architecture as well as clinical and genomic datasets with Merck's ambition to harness AI-enabled virtual cell technologies to enhance disease understanding, improve target identification, and drive early development decisions.
By leveraging Mayo Clinic Platform, which brings together data from Mayo Clinic U.S. and its international partner network in a secure environment, Merck will integrate Mayo Clinic's clinical insights and genomic data sets, including AI and machine learning (ML)-enabled discovery spanning computational and spatial biology. The new Mayo Clinic Platform_Orchestrate program provides Merck direct access to Mayo Clinic's world-class clinical and scientific expertise, Platform data including de-identified clinical and multimodal data sets, registries and biorepositories, advanced AI tools and analytics, and the ability to scale solutions.
Under the agreement, which marks Mayo Clinic's first strategic collaboration of this scale with a global biopharmaceutical company, Merck will leverage Mayo Clinic's extensive multimodal data - including laboratory results, medical imaging, clinical notes and molecular data - to support validation of AI models and help translate research insights into discovery and development strategies.
"New cutting-edge technologies are enhancing our ability to innovate with the potential to bring important new therapies to patients faster. By working with Mayo Clinic, we aim to integrate high-quality clinical data and AI-enabled insights into discovery research to improve target identification, and ultimately, the probability of success for our programs," said Robert M. Davis, chairman and CEO, Merck.
"By combining Mayo Clinic Platform's de-identified data, clinical expertise and Platform technology with Merck's world-class research and development capabilities, we are poised to speed innovative breakthroughs to patients and redefine drug development," said Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., president and CEO, Mayo Clinic. "This collaboration represents a new present and future for healthcare - one where platform-based collaboration leads to more answers, more cures and better outcomes for patients worldwide."
The collaboration will initially focus on high-need therapeutic areas in three specialties where advanced analytics and multimodal approaches have the potential to advance progress in the development of more effective and tailored therapies:
- Gastroenterology - Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
- Dermatology - Atopic dermatitis
- Neurology - Multiple sclerosis
The collaboration builds on Merck's broader investments in AI/ML-enabled discovery, spanning computational or spatial biology, AI foundation models and real-world data, and reflects a shared focus on applying advanced technologies in ways that support disciplined, evidence-based drug development.
