Guardant Health is signing up to a multiyear deal with Merck & Co. for the U.S. Big Pharma to tap its Infinity Smart platform.
The collaboration, financial details of which were not made public, will tap into Guardant’s liquid biopsy portfolio as well as its companion diagnostics.
The liquid and tissue biopsy tests will be used for enrolling assays across several unspecified Merck clinical studies, though the area will be oncology, according to a release.
The pair will also “evaluate opportunities” to create new drug therapies using Guardant liquid biopsy tests as companion diagnostics while partnering to sell drugs and companion diagnostics in the U.S., Asia-Pacific, U.K. and EU markets.
“This strategic collaboration allows us to bring the power of the Infinity Smart platform to some of the most important oncology programs in development today,” Helmy Eltoukhy, Ph.D., Guardant Health chairman and co-CEO, said in the release.
“As biomarkers become more central to therapy selection, our goal is to ensure that every trial has the molecular clarity needed to reach the right patients,” Eltoukhy added. “This collaboration strengthens our shared commitment to rigor, scale, and faster development of life-changing cancer therapies.”
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Merck currently sells oncology megablockbuster Keytruda, which has several companion diagnostics, including products from Agilent and Foundation Medicines.
As it looks to life beyond Keytruda, Merck has been busy striking new cancer deals, including one with cancer biotech Epitopea a year ago. It’s also working with Japanese pharma Daiichi Sankyo on the investigational antibody-drug conjugate ifinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXd) in lung cancer.
Daiichi and Merck are also working together on two other DXd ADCs plus a DLL3-targeting bispecific T-cell engager dubbed MK-6070. Merck acquired MK-6070 in its $680 million buyout of Harpoon Therapeutics in early 2024.
