HitGen and Merck have updated their licensing agreement to a full-fledged drug discovery collaboration in order to screen DNA-encoded libraries for new small-molecule assets. HitGen will be providing its technology platform to design and build multiple libraries for Merck’s international efforts under Merck Sharp & Dohme, or MSD.

HitGen will be screening its libraries of more than 200 billion compounds against MSD’s selected therapeutic targets. The newly discovered compounds will be licensed to MSD for research work and MSD will be supporting HitGen’s research.

Emma Parmee, the VP of MSD’s global discovery chemistry said, “This expanded collaboration builds upon the strong relationship we have developed with researchers at HitGen as we apply the DEL technology across our portfolio.”

The company has also signed a multitarget discovery collaboration with various other pharma companies, such as Pfizer, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, Boehringer Ingelheim, Aduro Biotech and research institutes like Cancer Research U.K., the Scripps Research Institute and the California Institute for Biomedical Research.

HitGen also received a three-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for therapeutic discovery against malaria and tuberculosis.

Jin Li, the CEO, Founder and Chairman of HitGen said, “HitGen continues to grow as a world-class drug discovery organization; In addition to our collaborations with industry partners, we are keenly focused on engaging with world-leading philanthropic and academic institutions to provide new solutions for patients with unmet medical needs.”