Merck KGaA, Pfizer, Broad Institute deal

Merck's EMD Serono Inc. subsidiary and Pfizer partnered with the institute to identify biomarkers to better define target patient populations for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lupus nephritis. The institute will apply biochemical and next-generation sequencing technologies on clinical samples from SLE and lupus patients within its network of clinicians and analyze immune cell subpopulations. The institute will also use computational modeling approaches to identify key molecular drivers of SLE and lupus kidney flares and to discover potential novel drug targets. ...