On Friday December 16, Merck (NYSE: MRK) today announced the launch of their first biopharmaceutical cohort through the Merck Digital Sciences Studio (MDSS), a collaboration between Merck, Microsoft for Startups, and the New Jersey Innovation Institute, a New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) subsidiary. The 10-month startup accelerator program with direct investments from Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Northpond Ventures, and McKesson Ventures will empower members and enable the generation of innovative digital technologies for drug discovery and development through hands-on mentorship, connection opportunities with industry leading partners, and training in an active entrepreneurial setting. The program includes workshops, mentorship, coaching, subsidized office space, and access to Microsoft’s Founders Hub resources, including Azure Cloud computing credits.
The collaborative cohort located in Newark, New Jersey and Cambridge, Massachusetts will focus on important and disruptive biotechnical approaches in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), with expertise and tools from clinical scientists to continue Merck’s mission to strengthen the life-sciences ecosystem.
About the Cohort
Andson Biotech. Andson Biotech’s mission is to drive the discovery, development, and manufacturing of the next generation of advanced therapies. Their analytical platforms are tailored for modern biopharma process development and control, all the way from lab to market. More at: https://andsonbiotech.com.
Deep Forest Sciences. Deep Forest Sciences is working to make cutting edge AI and ML tools for drug discovery accessible to scientists in the biotech industry. They use Chiron to leverage large scientific foundation models to accelerate discovery of new molecules, materials, designs, and more. More at: https://deepforestsci.com.
Gesund.ai. Gesund.ai is building a CRO platform for clinical-grade AI. By orchestrating AI-as-a-Medical-Devise, Gesund.ai is creating the validation infrastructure to robust, safe, and equitable healthcare AI algorithms for all. More at: https://www.gesund.ai.
Magna Labs. Magna Labs provides quality management tools and automation to validate and optimize high-quality bioinformatic software throughout development, accelerating the innovation and delivery of precision science & medicine. More at: https://www.magnalabs.co
IndyGeneUS AI. IndyGeneUS AI accelerates the discovery, development, and manufacturing of advanced therapeutics to address health disparities that African diaspora populations face in accessing high-quality, equitable health care. More at: https://indygeneus.ai
Pepper Bio. Pepper Bio built the world’s first transomics platform to navigate the fastest & safest route to positive patient outcomes. Pepper Bio wants to create a world where there are no untreatable diseases by unraveling complex biology to develop life-saving medicine. More at: https://pepper.bio
SciMar ONE. SciMar’s proprietary technology uses cloud and AI to modernize drug development’s manual process and help pharma get life-changing therapies to patients faster. More at: https://scimarone.com
Stem Pharm. Stem Pharm improves the clinical translation of neurologic drug development by providing physiologically relevant in vitro human models of complex neurologic diseases to pharma companies for use in drug discovery and preclinical development. More at: https://www.stempharm.com
Perceiv AI. Perceiv AI is an AI-driven precision medicine company developing a powerful multimodal prognostic platform to forecast disease progression in age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s. By providing a window into individual patients’ disease progression, Perceiv AI aims to accelerate and de-risk the development of new therapies while enabling timelier diagnoses. More at: https://www.perceiv.ai
About Merck
Merck, also known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, strives to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company through a diverse and inclusive global workforce. For over 130 years, Merck has been using the power of leading-edge science to deliver innovative health solutions to save and improve the health and wellness of people and animals worldwide with important medicines and vaccines.
About New Jersey Innovation Institute
New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII), a 501c3 subsidiary of NJIT, combines the resources of the university, strong industry and government relationships, and proven methods to drive innovation and deliver transformative products and services that make a direct impact on the economy and the health and welfare of its participants. To achieve this, NJII is organized into four divisions that help turn ideas into workable solutions: healthcare, entrepreneurship, defense and homeland security, and professional and corporate education.
About Northpond Ventures
Northpond Ventures is a multi-billion-dollar science-driven venture capital firm based in Cambridge, MA; San Francisco, CA; and Bethesda, MD. Northpond has consistently been named one of the most active lead life science investors by both Crunchbase and Silicon Valley Bank. It is deeply engaged in the academic ecosystem, having founded The Laboratory for Bioengineering Research and Innovation at Harvard’s Wyss Institute; launched the MIT-Northpond Program – Advancing Life Science & Engineering Innovation; and sponsored a prize for women entrepreneurs at MIT. It has led or co-led over 60 financings over the past several years and sits on the board of the vast majority of these businesses. Learn more at https://www.npv.vc/.