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news.Merck & Co (MSD) has signed a multi-year research collaboration with Quotient Therapeutics to discover new drug targets for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) using the latter’s somatic genomics platform technology.
The drug targets for IBD will be discovered using the somatic genomics platform technology. Credit: NMK-Studio / Shutterstock.com.
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Under the agreement, Quotient will receive $20m upfront and could also earn up to $2.2bn through regulatory, development, and commercial milestone payments.
Quotient’s somatic genomics approach analyses naturally accumulated genetic mutations within individual patient tissue, identifying mutations that may cause or protect from diseases such as IBD.
The insights derived from these findings could inform new therapeutic strategies across a range of diseases.
Quotient president and CEO Rahul Kakkar said: “The combination of Merck’s deep drug development and global commercial expertise with our unbiased, disease- and modality-agnostic somatic genomics platform could redefine how IBD is understood and treated.
“We are proud to work alongside the world-class team at Merck, broadening the reach of our somatic genomics platform and bringing potentially breakthrough therapies to the patients in need.”
MSD research laboratories discovery vice-president Dr Marc Levesque said: “Quotient’s platform has the potential to provide us with unique biological insights into genomic changes that are naturally occurring within patients with IBD.
“Millions of people globally are living with this disease, and no disease-modifying treatments are currently available. Immunology is a key area of focus for Merck, and we look forward to collaborating on this novel approach to target discovery to help us develop more effective therapeutic options for patients.”
Last month, MSD and Mayo Clinic entered a research and development collaboration to utilise AI, advanced analytics, and multimodal clinical data in support of drug discovery and precision medicine.
