MSD and Mayo Clinic use AI to find new medicines faster starting 2024

MSD and Mayo Clinic are teaming up to use AI for finding new medicines. This is the first big partnership of its kind between a drug company and a hospital.
By Newsroom | Health, Technology |

A significant partnership has been formed between MSD (known as Merck & Co. outside the U.S. and Canada) and Mayo Clinic to propel the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) in the realm of drug discovery and development. This collaboration seeks to leverage extensive clinical and genomic data, alongside cutting-edge AI tools, to accelerate the identification and creation of novel therapies. The agreement is notable for its scale and the integration of a major pharmaceutical company with a leading healthcare institution.

Collaboration Framework

The alliance centers on MSD's use of Mayo Clinic's vast de-identified data resources. This includes:

  • Clinical insights and genomic datasets.

  • Laboratory results.

  • Medical imaging.

  • Clinical notes.

  • Molecular data.

  • Registries and biorepositories.

MSD will integrate these resources into its drug discovery operations, employing AI and machine learning for advanced computational and spatial biology approaches. The initiative aims to improve disease understanding, enhance the identification of drug targets, and strengthen early-stage development decisions.

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Access to Data and Technology

Under the agreement, MSD gains access to the Mayo Clinic Platform architecture, a comprehensive system that consolidates diverse patient data. This platform also provides tools for data interrogation, including advanced AI and analytics capabilities through the Mayo Clinic Platform Orchestrate program. This strategic integration is designed to refine AI models and translate research findings into practical discovery and development strategies.

"The alliance will enhance our ability to innovate and potentially bring new therapies to patients faster," stated Robert Davis, MSD's chief executive.

Initial Focus Areas

The collaboration will initially concentrate on therapeutic areas where advanced analytics and multimodal data approaches are expected to yield significant progress. These include:

  • Gastroenterology, specifically Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

  • Dermatology, focusing on Atopic dermatitis.

  • Neurology, with an emphasis on Multiple sclerosis.

These specialties were chosen due to the potential for AI and data-driven insights to lead to more effective and tailored treatments for patients suffering from these conditions.

Significance of the Partnership

This alliance is described as the first large-scale strategic collaboration of its kind between Mayo Clinic and a global biopharmaceutical company. It represents a shared focus on applying advanced technologies to support disciplined, evidence-based drug development. The agreement also builds upon MSD's broader investments in AI/ML-enabled discovery, including foundation models and real-world data initiatives.

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Expert Analysis

The integration of extensive, de-identified clinical data from a healthcare leader like Mayo Clinic with the AI and drug development expertise of MSD is seen as a pivotal step in modernizing pharmaceutical research. The ability to analyze multimodal data at scale is expected to provide deeper insights into disease mechanisms and patient responses, thereby accelerating the drug development pipeline.

Conclusion and Implications

The partnership between MSD and Mayo Clinic signals a forward-looking approach to drug discovery, prioritizing the application of AI and big data analytics. By combining Mayo Clinic's rich data resources and clinical expertise with MSD's technological capabilities, the collaboration aims to overcome traditional hurdles in drug development. The focus on specific high-need therapeutic areas suggests a targeted strategy to deliver tangible benefits to patients in the near future. The success of this initiative could serve as a blueprint for future collaborations between healthcare systems and pharmaceutical companies, transforming how new medicines are discovered and brought to market.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the new partnership between MSD and Mayo Clinic about?
MSD and Mayo Clinic are working together to use artificial intelligence (AI) and patient data to find and create new medicines more quickly. They will use AI to look at health information to understand diseases better and find new targets for drugs.
Q: What kind of data will MSD use from Mayo Clinic?
MSD will use many types of health information from Mayo Clinic, like patient records, genetic data, lab results, and medical images. This data will be used with AI tools to help find new drugs.
Q: Which diseases will this partnership focus on first?
The partnership will first focus on finding new treatments for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Atopic dermatitis (a skin condition), and Multiple sclerosis (a nerve disease). These areas were chosen because AI and data might help find better treatments.
Q: Why is this partnership important?
This is the first large partnership of its kind between Mayo Clinic and a big drug company like MSD. It shows how using advanced technology and lots of data can help make drug development faster and better for patients.
Q: When did this partnership start?
The partnership was announced in early 2024 and is starting its work on using AI and data for drug discovery.