Merck KGaA Strikes Over $1.2 Billion AI Drug Discovery Deals with BenevolentAI and Exscientia

　　【Pharmaceutical Network Industry DynamicsIn recent years, the use of AI technology to accelerate research and development in the pharmaceutical field has become a very important trend in the pharmaceutical industry. It is reported that this year, a large number of domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies have reached collaborations with AI companies and platforms for new drug discovery, using AI algorithms to simultaneously drive multiple cancer drug R&D projects and AI-powered process optimization projects.
 

On September 21, Germany-based Merck announced two separate AI drug discovery collaborations with BenevolentAI and Exscientia, focusing on three targets in oncology, neurology, and immunology. Under the collaboration, BenevolentAI will leverage its AI chemistry design toolkit along with its wet lab facilities to deliver small molecule drug development candidates into Germany-based Merck’s pipeline for preclinical and clinical development. According to the agreement, Germany-based Merck will pay up to $594 million to BenevolentAI, including upfront payments and milestone payments upon achieving discovery, development, and commercial milestones.
 

The new collaboration between Merck KGaA and Exscientia also enables both parties to identify additional targets in the fields of oncology, immunology, or other disease areas agreed upon by both parties. Under the terms of the agreement, Exscientia will receive an upfront cash payment of $20 million from Merck KGaA and is eligible to receive up to $674 million in discovery, development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments.
 

In fact, Merck has long been applying artificial intelligence technology in a very wide range of fields and continuously expanding its application scope. It once collaborated with French company Iktos to accelerate drug research and development based on AI-driven active ingredient research, developing new therapies for certain diseases through new technologies such as autonomous design of virtual novel molecules. In China, Merck partnered with Insilico to expedite the development of small molecules via the groundbreaking "Chemistry42" AI platform. Through collaborations with leading industry players, renowned research institutions, and universities, Merck has established an innovation platform named KEEN. Under this platform, a series of AI applications have been developed. Meanwhile, Merck has also invested in artificial intelligence within its own production processes...
 

Currently, AI has been applied in Merck's daily business operations and R&D fields. The extensive product lines across the three major business areas—healthcare, life sciences, and electronic technology—have already benefited from the synergistic effects brought by artificial intelligence. Industry experts predict that with the support of artificial intelligence, Merck's exploration of cutting-edge pharmaceutical fields will become much more efficient in the future.
 

In fact, against the backdrop of the continuous integration of AI and the pharmaceutical industry, an increasing number of pharmaceutical companies, in addition to Merck, have also recognized the potential of AI to provide people with treatment methods more quickly. At present, in order to develop innovative drugs more quickly, efficiently, and with lower consumption, a large number of pharmaceutical companies both in China and abroad are actively cooperating with AI pharmaceutical companies and AI platforms. Since September, news of such cooperation has been frequently announced.
 

For example, on September 12, biotechnology company Exelixis and Insilico Medicine jointly announced that they had signed an exclusive licensing agreement, under which Exelixis will obtain global development and commercialization rights for ISM3091 from Insilico Medicine. ISM3091 is a potential best-in-class small molecule inhibitor targeting the synthetic lethal target USP1 in BRCA-mutant tumors.
 

On September 4, XtalPi announced a collaboration with Parthenon Therapeutics, a company focused on remodeling the tumor microenvironment, to jointly develop antibody drugs for solid tumors. According to reports, in this collaboration, XtalPi will authorize Parthenon Therapeutics to use its XupremAb® antibody discovery platform. Parthenon Therapeutics and XtalPi will utilize various discovery methods within XupremAb® to conduct an in-depth analysis of immune repertoires, generate large integrated databases, and then leverage XtalPi's algorithms to identify excellent candidate antibody molecules.
 

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