Merck in Agreement With Cyclica for AI-augmented Screening Platform to Expand Research Capabilities

Darmstadt, Germany (ots/PRNewswire) -

Not intended for distribution in the USA, Canada or UK

- Agreement to screen discovery and early development compounds
using artificial intelligence and computational biophysics
- Cloud-based in silico platform that screens small molecules to
determine polypharmacological profiles
- Evaluation to include identification of potential mechanisms of
action for investigational small molecules

Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced
that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Cyclica Inc. for
the use of Ligand Express®, a cloud-based in silico proteome
screening platform. Ligand Express® is a structure-based and
artificial intelligence (AI) augmented proteome screening platform
that is being used to uncover novel targets that are modelled to
interact with a small molecule. This year-long agreement will enable
Merck to quickly and efficiently elucidate mechanisms of action,
evaluate safety profiles and explore additional applications for a
number of its investigational small molecules, including those
identified in highly disease-relevant phenotypic screens.

"With scientific curiosity at the heart of everything we do, the
pursuit of state-of-the-art research techniques and technologies is
integral to complement our internal discovery engine," said Belén
Garijo, Member of the Executive Board and CEO Healthcare, Merck.
"Artificial intelligence has the power to make the previously
unimaginable a reality - we are eager to harness these new
possibilities to help drive the discoveries that can transform the
lives of people affected by difficult-to-treat diseases."

"A key part of our R&D strategy is to progress highly promising
compounds as efficiently and rapidly as possible," added Friedrich
Rippmann, Director of Computational Chemistry & Biology at Merck.
"Assessing new technologies is central to how we will advance our
discovery programs, and artificial intelligence applications like
Ligand Express® will provide important insights to enhance how we
think about target identification to support phenotypic screening and
off-target profiling in general."

"Current experimental protein screening approaches can take up to
a year, making it virtually impossible to do this for multiple
compounds. We see this as a specific opportunity for cloud-based and
AI-augmented technologies to drive drug discovery more efficiently,"
commented Naheed Kurji, President and CEO of Cyclica. "We are
thrilled that Merck will be leveraging the power of our Ligand
Express® platform to drive their identification of novel targets."