US pharmaceutical company Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside the US and Canada, on Wednesday announced a research and development agreement with Mayo Clinic to apply artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and multimodal clinical data to drug discovery and development.

The collaboration integrates Mayo Clinic's Platform architecture, clinical insights, and genomic datasets with Merck's AI-enabled virtual cell research to enhance disease understanding and target identification.

Through the Mayo Clinic Platform_Orchestrate program, Merck will access de-identified clinical and multimodal datasets, biorepositories, advanced analytics tools, and Mayo Clinic's scientific expertise to support AI model validation and early development decisions. This represents Mayo Clinic's first strategic collaboration of this scale with a global biopharmaceutical company.

The initial focus will be on high-need therapeutic areas including gastroenterology (inflammatory bowel disease), dermatology (atopic dermatitis), and neurology (multiple sclerosis). The partnership leverages Merck's broader AI/ML investments, encompassing computational and spatial biology, foundation models, and real-world data. Both organizations aim to translate advanced analytics into evidence-based drug development and precision medicine solutions.