Human Longevity, the genomics-powered, health intelligence company, has signed an agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which operates its biopharmaceutical business as EMD Serono in the US and Canada, with the goal of pioneering the application of advanced genomics and expert analysis with machine learning to transform drug development and medical use of next generation therapeutics. As part of the agreement, the companies have started a joint pilot project to identify treatment response biomarker signatures in patients with advanced melanoma. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Cindy Collins, HLI chief executive officer said, “Our agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will enable us to work together to discover novel insights that improve patient survival in melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. With more than 230,000 new cases of melanoma diagnosed worldwide each year, and rates on the rise for the last 30 years, we believe our first pilot project is of great importance for society and look forward to working with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to impact the treatment of melanoma.”

In the pilot project, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and HLI are working together to identify treatment response biomarkers in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NRAS mutated cutaneous melanoma that preferentially respond to Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany’s MEK1/2 inhibitor, pimasertib. To enable this goal, HLI is generating genomic sequencing data from clinical trial participants’ tumor and germline and utilizing its machine learning and analytical tools and expertise to interpret and analyze this data in the context of survival and other clinical data.

HLI is building the world’s largest database of genomic, phenotypic, and clinical information. HLI has sequenced approximately 40,000 high-quality genomes and is building an unparalleled database of genomic and phenotypic integrated health records. HLI’s customers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, life insurance companies, large academic medical centers, physicians and individuals.