March 3, 2026 — Leads & Copy — Tempus AI, Inc. and Merck have announced an expanded, multi-year collaboration to accelerate the discovery and development of precision medicine biomarkers.
The collaboration will also support Merck’s oncology and potentially broader therapeutic portfolios.
Ryan Fukushima, CEO, Data & Apps at Tempus, said this collaboration builds on an existing relationship and reflects a shared commitment to using multimodal datasets with AI to deliver better options for patients. He added that Tempus has spent years configuring its Lens Platform to leverage its library of de-identified multimodal data with the necessary AI computing power to train and fine-tune specific models for healthcare.
Fukushima said that working with the scientists at Merck provides exciting opportunities to translate the insights from AI models into precision medicine strategies and improve patient outcomes across oncology and beyond.
Under the agreement, Merck will use Tempus’ de-identified data along with Tempus’ Lens Platform and Workspaces environment. Tempus’ Lens Platform offers an advanced computational configuration powered by one of the industry’s largest GPU infrastructures, which enables researchers to efficiently conduct complex analyses on training-ready multimodal datasets, generating novel insights to accelerate the development and optimization of candidate therapies at scale.
George Addona, Senior Vice President, Discovery, Preclinical Development and Translational Medicine, Merck Research Laboratories, said the combination of new AI technologies and large curated multimodal data sets are transforming the way discovery research is conducted. He added that this collaboration with Tempus positions Merck to advance its precision oncology strategy through the application of the latest AI/ML capabilities to discover novel precision biomarkers, identify mechanisms of cancer cell resistance, and inform rational combinations for drugs in Merck’s early pipeline.
Tempus is a technology company advancing precision medicine through the practical application of artificial intelligence in healthcare. Tempus provides AI-enabled precision medicine solutions to physicians to deliver personalized patient care and facilitates discovery, development and delivery of optimal therapeutics. Tempus utilizes a library of multimodal data, and an operating system to make that data accessible and useful.
The goal is for each patient to benefit from the treatment of others who came before by providing physicians with tools that learn as the company gathers more data.
Source: Tempus AI, Inc.
