Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) entered into a multi‑year partnership with Google Cloud, investing up to $1 billion to deploy the company’s Gemini Enterprise platform across its research, manufacturing, commercial and corporate functions. The deal will enable Merck to build an agentic AI ecosystem that can accelerate drug discovery, optimize manufacturing through predictive analytics, personalize commercial outreach and automate corporate processes.
The partnership is a strategic response to the impending loss of exclusivity for Keytruda, which generated $31.7 billion in sales in 2025 and is expected to expire around 2028. Merck’s Q4 2025 results showed $65.0 billion in worldwide sales, with pharmaceutical sales of $58.1 billion and animal‑health sales of $6.4 billion. By investing heavily in AI, Merck aims to diversify its portfolio, speed the development of new therapies and maintain its competitive edge in a highly regulated, cost‑constrained industry.
Gemini Enterprise will be deployed across all four core business functions. Google Cloud engineers will work alongside Merck teams to embed agentic AI into research pipelines, manufacturing operations, commercial strategy and corporate processes. The partnership is part of Merck’s broader AI strategy, which also includes collaborations with Tempus, Mayo Clinic, Siemens, Variational AI and Nvidia.
"Merck's collaboration with Google Cloud represents the next phase of our AI journey, extending our longstanding use of advanced technologies into an intelligent agentic ecosystem that will work alongside our teams, as we enter one of the most significant launch periods in our company's history," said Dave Williams, Merck’s chief information and digital officer. "AI agents and generative tools will help our teams around the world reimagine processes at scale and bring scientific breakthroughs to patients faster."
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, added: "Our partnership with Merck represents a fundamental shift in how technology supports the entire pharma value chain. By deploying an industry‑first agentic ecosystem powered by Gemini Enterprise, Merck is not just optimizing business processes; it is building a future where the speed of AI and the expertise of human ingenuity come together to bring drugs to patients faster and solve problems that were previously out of reach."
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