- Collaboration aims to discover and develop antibodies against multiple therapeutic targets designated by Merck
- Infinimmune’s platform combines large-scale human immune repertoire single cell screening with AI-guided antibody engineering to rapidly identify and optimize therapeutic candidates
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--#AI--Infinimmune, a biotechnology company pioneering antibody discovery and design, today announced a collaboration with Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, to apply Infinimmune’s human-first antibody discovery platform to identify and develop antibody candidates against multiple undisclosed targets designated by Merck.
Under the agreement, Infinimmune will use its proprietary Anthrobody® discovery platform and GLIMPSE™ antibody language model to discover and optimize therapeutic antibodies derived directly from human immune repertoires. The Infinimmune platform enables the screening of millions of single memory B cells across hundreds of potential targets, identifying natively paired antibody candidates and enabling the rapid identification of candidates with strong affinity, specificity, and favorable drug-like properties.
Merck will have the exclusive right to develop and commercialize antibody candidates arising from the collaboration. Under the terms of the agreement, Infinimmune will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and is eligible to receive milestone payments associated with the progress of multiple antibody candidates all totaling up to approximately $838 million.
“We are excited to work with Merck to apply our platform to the discovery of novel antibody therapeutics,” said Wyatt McDonnell, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder, Infinimmune. “By discovering antibodies directly from human immune systems and combining that biology with advanced AI-driven engineering, we can uncover therapeutic opportunities that traditional discovery approaches may not access. This collaboration allows us to scale our human-first discovery engine and accelerate the development of differentiated biologics.”
“At Merck, we are committed to advancing innovative approaches that improve the speed and rigor of drug discovery,” said Juan Alvarez, Ph.D., Vice President of Biologics Discovery, Merck Research Laboratories. “Infinimmune’s platform enables the discovery of antibodies directly from the human immune system, offering a compelling new way to access novel biology and promising therapeutic candidates.”
Infinimmune’s platform integrates large-scale single-cell human immune repertoire screening with machine learning–guided antibody engineering to optimize potency, manufacturability, and developability. The company has built one of the largest datasets of naturally occurring human antibodies and uses these data to identify and engineer therapeutic candidates with superior drug characteristics, including high specificity, extended half-life, and reduced immunogenicity.
The company is also advancing a pipeline of first- and best-in-class antibodies discovered directly from humans, including IFX-101, an IL-22 inhibitor, and IFX-201, an IL-13 inhibitor, under development for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. Additional pipeline programs are being developed in inflammatory and immunology diseases, including monotherapies inhibiting APRIL, IL-17F, and others.
About Infinimmune
Infinimmune is a biotechnology company developing next-generation antibody therapeutics by discovering antibodies directly from the human immune system. The company’s Anthrobody® platform enables the screening of millions of single memory B cells to identify fully human antibodies across hundreds of targets. Combined with the company’s GLIMPSE™ antibody language model, this approach enables the rapid discovery and optimization of antibodies with strong affinity, specificity, and favorable developability characteristics. For more information, visit www.infinimmune.com.
Contacts
Media Contact
Kimberly Ha
KKH Advisors
kimberly.ha@kkhadvisors.com
917-291-5744
