Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) has secured an expansive multi-year collaboration with Merck (NYSE:MRK) to integrate its high-sensitivity liquid biopsy technology into Merck’s global oncology development program.
The agreement, announced Jan. 19, centers on the Guardant Infinity™ Smart platform—a next-generation "multiomic" technology that examines both genomic alterations and epigenomic methylation patterns.
By capturing these dual signals, the platform provides a more comprehensive "fingerprint" of a patient's cancer than traditional DNA sequencing alone, allowing for significantly higher sensitivity in detecting minimal residual disease and therapy response.
Under the terms of the deal, Merck will use Guardant’s portfolio of liquid and tissue biopsy tests to screen and enroll patients in its global clinical trials.
The partnership also aims to co-develop novel companion diagnostics (CDx) that could eventually be paired with Merck’s leading oncology therapies, including potential new indications for its blockbuster anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda.
The collaboration extends beyond R&D into global commercialization.
Guardant and Merck intend to partner on the commercial launch of successful drug-diagnostic pairings in key markets, including the United States, Europe, the UK, and the Asia-Pacific region.
For Guardant, the Merck deal follows a similar high-profile partnership with Pfizer and underscores the company’s transition from a diagnostic test provider to a critical infrastructure partner for "Big Pharma."