Merck signed a collaboration with Infinimmune to discover new therapeutic antibodies using the startup’s AI-driven platform built on human immune cell datasets. Under the deal, Merck could pay up to $838 million in upfront and milestone payments, while Infinimmune keeps responsibility for discovering candidate antibodies and Merck retains exclusive rights to develop and commercialize resulting drugs. Infinimmune focuses on mining memory B cells to identify antibody candidates and engineering them into potential therapeutics. Its public targets include IL-22 and IL-13, pathways implicated in autoimmune diseases such as atopic dermatitis and ulcerative colitis. The agreement adds to Merck’s recent string of platform and licensing moves aimed at replenishing biologics pipelines as exclusivity dynamics shift for major franchises.