Merck & Co., Inc., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, has entered into a major research and development agreement with Mayo Clinic to apply artificial intelligence (AI), advanced analytics and multimodal clinical data to accelerate drug discovery and development.
The collaboration will integrate the Mayo Clinic Platform architecture and its extensive clinical and genomic datasets with Merck’s AI-enabled virtual cell technologies. The goal is to deepen disease understanding, improve target identification and strengthen early-stage development decisions, potentially increasing the probability of success across research programs.
Through the Mayo Clinic Platform—which securely aggregates de-identified data from Mayo Clinic’s U.S. operations and its international partner network—Merck will gain access to a broad range of clinical insights and genomic resources. These include AI- and machine learning-driven discovery tools spanning computational and spatial biology. A central component of the collaboration is the Mayo Clinic Platform_Orchestrate program, which offers Merck direct access to clinical expertise, multimodal datasets, registries, biorepositories and advanced analytics capabilities.
The agreement marks Mayo Clinic’s first strategic collaboration of this scale with a global biopharmaceutical company. Under the partnership, Merck will leverage multimodal data such as laboratory results, medical imaging, physician notes and molecular data to validate AI models and translate insights into actionable discovery and development strategies.
Robert M. Davis, Chairman and CEO of Merck, said that emerging technologies are transforming the way medicines are discovered. By combining high-quality clinical data with AI-driven insights, the company aims to refine target identification and enhance the efficiency of its research pipeline.
Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., President and CEO of Mayo Clinic, described the partnership as a new model for platform-based collaboration in healthcare. He noted that integrating de-identified data, clinical expertise and advanced platform technologies with Merck’s research capabilities could accelerate breakthroughs and improve patient outcomes worldwide.
The collaboration will initially focus on high-need therapeutic areas across three specialties: gastroenterology, particularly inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); dermatology, with an emphasis on atopic dermatitis; and neurology, targeting multiple sclerosis. In each of these areas, advanced analytics and multimodal data approaches are expected to help develop more precise and effective therapies.
The agreement also builds on Merck’s broader investments in AI and machine learning-enabled research, including work in computational biology, spatial biology, foundation models and real-world evidence. Together, the companies aim to create a more data-driven, evidence-based framework for drug development, potentially reshaping how new therapies are brought to patients.