Merck is committing up to $1 billion in a multi-year collaboration with Google Cloud to build an agentic AI ecosystem powered by Gemini Enterprise. The platform will digitize data and drive productivity across R&D workflows, predictive manufacturing analytics, personalized commercial engagement and automated corporate processes for Merck’s 75,000 employees.

Merck’s venture arm, MRL Ventures Fund, joined Janus Henderson Investors in a $125 million Series B for Ray Therapeutics to fund late-stage development and commercial readiness of RTX-015. The gene therapy delivers rhodopsin to retinal neurons in the Phase I ENVISION trial for retinitis pigmentosa, with a second asset, RTX-021, entering Phase I/II for Stargardt disease and IND-enabling work for geographic atrophy.