EMD Serono and MD Anderson Cancer Center Enter Three-Year Strategic Collaboration

"This collaboration illustrates our commitment to delivering meaningful value to patients by rapidly progressing our immuno-oncology pipeline, focusing on the identification of innovative biomarkers, together with our partner, the prestigious MD Anderson Cancer Center," said Belén Garijo, CEO Healthcare and Member of the Executive Board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

EMD Serono will be the first company to gain access to the Adaptive Patient-Oriented Longitudinal Learning and Optimization Platform (APOLLO) – MD Anderson's research platform that standardizes the long-term collection of patients' medical history and data derived from tissue samples in order to better understand the biology of cancer and accelerate research-driven patient care. The collaboration will encompass both biomarker-focused pre-clinical research and clinical trials in specific tumor types aimed at identifying biomarkers of response and resistance and developing a better understanding of the disease biology.

The collaboration will enhance the value of EMD Serono's future oncology/immuno-oncology pipeline, with a goal of multiple registrational studies in novel indications in the next two to three years. Data from APOLLO will be used to match a number of investigational compounds to select tumor types for potential development and collaboratively design biomarker-driven pre-clinical and clinical studies at MD Anderson evaluating the potential therapeutic effect of the compounds – alone or in combination.

APOLLO was developed by MD Anderson as part of its Moon Shots Program, an ambitious effort to reduce cancer deaths by more rapidly developing and implementing advances in prevention, early detection and treatment based on scientific discoveries.

"Our goal when establishing the APOLLO research platform was to enable innovative solutions such as this collaboration between academia and industry to help accelerate clinical advances for the benefit of all cancer patients," said Ronald DePinho, M.D., president, MD Anderson. "This joint effort supports our mission to end cancer by addressing some of the greatest challenges in oncology today."

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is committed to exploring an array of targets, and taking creative scientific approaches to developing novel therapies for hard-to-treat cancers. The strength of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany's promising oncology development program and growing presence in the immunotherapy space demonstrates how the company is re-imagining the way cancer care is delivered.

About MD Anderson
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston ranks as one of the world's most respected centers focused on cancer patient care, research, education and prevention. The institution's sole mission is to end cancer for patients and their families around the world. MD Anderson is one of only 45 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). MD Anderson is ranked No.1 for cancer care in U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospitals" survey. It has ranked as one of the nation's top two hospitals since the survey began in 1990, and has ranked first for nine of the past 10 years. MD Anderson receives a cancer center support grant from the NCI of the National Institutes of Health (P30 CA016672).

About EMD Serono, Inc.
EMD Serono is the healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the U.S. and Canada focused exclusively on specialty care. For more than 40 years, the business has integrated cutting-edge science, innovative products and industry-leading patient support and access programs. EMD Serono has deep expertise in neurology, fertility and endocrinology, as well as a robust pipeline of potential therapies in oncology, immuno-oncology and immunology as R&D focus areas. Today, the business has 1,200 employees around the country with commercial, clinical and research operations based in the company's home state of Massachusetts.
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About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life – from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2015, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of € 12.85 billion in 66 countries. 

Founded in 1668, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, holds the global rights to the Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.

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