Exploratory Science Center

The Exploratory Science Center (ESC) is a pharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, MA."MRL CAMBRIDGE ESC, LLC". Business Entity Summary
/ref> The disease agnostic research site was founded in 2016, and was led by Daria Hazuda (Chief Scientific Officer) until 2021.Keown, Alex. 2017. "Merck & Co. Opens Cambridge Exploratory Science Center". BioSpace.
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/ref> In late 2021 Juan Alvarez took on leadership as the interim headJuan Alvarez. LinkedIn. 2022.
/ref> and Marc Levesque took on leadership in 2022.Marc Levesque. LinkedIn. 2022.
/ref>Lecia Bushak. 2022. "Merck hires VP of immunology discovery". People Movers.
/ref> The Exploratory Science Center is a subsidiary of Merck & Co.

The Exploratory Science Center consists of interdisciplinary scientific groups, including biologists, chemists, and data scientists.Mullard, Asher. 2019. "An Audience With Daria Hazuda: Hazuda spoke with Asher Mullard about the firm’s exploratory science agenda, its interest in the microbiome and its continued focus on antibiotics and HIV drugs". Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 18, 492-493.
/ref>Nguyen, Tien. 2020. "A Conversation with Olugbeminiyi Niyi Fadeyi: Merck researcher finds new ways to merge chemistry and biology". ACS Cent Sci.
/ref> The site is co-located with a business development and licensing group as well as the venture capital group Merck Ventures Fund.MRL Ventures Fund: Investing in the Future
/ref> The research focuses primarily on the microbiome and human immunity, although the research focus is intended to be fluid and flexible. The site is kept intentionally small, so as to facilitate close collaborations and a startup-like atmosphere.Keown, Alex. 2017. "Merck Opens Exploratory Science Center". PharmaLive.
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History

The Exploratory Science Center site was originally occupied by a Schering-Plough innovation research site, which opened in 2006 and focused on small molecule drugs.2006. "Schering-Plough Expanding Discovery Operations in Cambridge, MA". Technology Networks.
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/ref> The innovation research site became part of Merck & Co. when it merged with Schering-Plough in 2009.2009. "Merck, Schering-Plough set to complete merger". Reuters.
/ref> Shortly after the merger, in 2010 Merck & Co. announced the closure of their Cambridge research site, after which it was occupied by Idenix Pharmaceuticals.2010. "Merck to shut Cambridge research lab". Boston Herald.
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/ref> ttp://archive.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2010/07/09/merck_closing_lab_in_kendall_square/ Weisman, Robert. 2010. "Merck will close lab in Kendall Sq.". The Boston Globe./ref>

Merck & Co. purchased the pharmaceutical company Idenix Pharmaceuticals in 2014 for $3.85 billion.Nickisch, Curt. 2014. "Cambridge Biotech Firm Idenix Bought By Drug Giant Merck For $3.85B". WBUR.
/ref>Fidler, Bill. 2014. "Merck Scoops Up Idenix in $3.85B Buyout". Xconomy.
/ref> The acquisition included its previously occupied research space in Kendall Square, a neighborhood within the Biotechnology industry in Boston. The 50,000 square foot space was converted to the current Exploratory Science Center space and began new operations in 2016 under the leadership of Daria Hazuda.Keown, Alex. 2016. "Merck & Co. Plans to Open Microbiome R&D Site in Former Idenix Facility in Cambridge". BioSpace.
/ref> This transition back to research in Cambridge came as part of Merck's east coast reorganization, in which employees were transitioned out of New Jersey and Pennsylvania sites, and repositioned in Cambridge, as well as some in the San Francisco Bay Area.Terry, Mark. 2016. "Merck & Co. to Cut or Shift 360 East Coast Jobs, Add 100 in the Bay Area". BioSpace.
/ref>Loftus, Peter. 2016. "Merck Cutting Drug Research Jobs at Three East-Coast Sites". The Wall Street Journal.
/ref> The Exploratory Science Center sits as a major component to the parent company Merck & Co. strategy of regional innovation hubs located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, San Francisco, and London."Merck Plans Radical Overhaul of R&D Unit". Drug Delivery and Development.
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In 2022, Merck announced it would be expanding the Exploratory Science Center by hiring an additional 100 employees and adding 160,000 additional square feet to the Bent Street facility.
/ref> The site has capacity for 250 total scientists, and the expansion was paired with an extended remit for the site to include additional capability development as well as target identification and validation.

Research

Mapping cell surface microenvironments

ESC scientists collaborated with researchers at Princeton University to develop visible-light-based techniques to map protein interactions on cell surfaces.Cross, Ryan. 2020. "Merck and Princeton scientists create method to map cell-surface microenvironments". Chemical And Engineering News.
/ref>Geri, Jacob; et al. 2020. "Microenvironment mapping via Dexter energy transfer on immune cells". Science.
/ref> In a collaboration between the ESC and Efficiency Aggregators (an energy efficiency company), an energy efficient biophotoreactor was developed to facilitate these light-powered biological studies.Bissonnette, Noah; et al. 2020. "Design of a Multiuse Photoreactor To Enable Visible‐Light Photocatalytic Chemical Transformations and Labeling in Live Cells". ChemBioChem.
/ref> This line of research was aimed at identifying drug targets using visible-light-based photocatalytic methods to interrogate cell surface protein microenvironments.Ryu, Keun Ah; et al. 2021. "Interrogating biological systems using visible-light-powered catalysis". Nature Reviews Chemistry.
/ref> Applications included mapping proteins around PDL1, which is relevant to cancer immunotherapy. This is expected to continue as a line of research for the university laboratory, with applications to more cell surface proteins.

Deep learning & natural products

The ESC research site has demonstrated an interest in natural product drug discovery using machine learning and genome mining approaches. This work included the development of an open source tool named DeepBGC, which provided a machine learning approach to biosynthetic gene cluster identification.Hannigan, Geoffrey; Prihoda, David; et al. 2019. "A deep learning genome-mining strategy for biosynthetic gene cluster prediction". Nucleic Acids Research.
/ref> Researchers have tied this approach to the microbiome, as a way of understanding microbiome mechanisms and their interactions with the human immune system Hannigan, Geoffrey; et al. 2020. "Understanding Human Microbiome Functionality & Immune Interactions Through Deep Learning". Pharmabiotics 2020.
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3D cancer tumor model technology

Researchers at the ESC published the development of a 3D tumor spheroid models which allow for the study of Anaerobic bacteria in the tumor microenvironment.Kasper, Stephen. 2020. "Colorectal cancer-associated anaerobic bacteria proliferate in tumor spheroids and alter the microenvironment". Scientific Reports.
/ref> This technology has been used to understand the association of Fusobacterium nucleatum with Colorectal cancer.

Outreach & education

Scientists at the ESC partnered with the Bunker Hill Community College in 2018 to pair students with mentor researchers.2019. "Mentorship Program with BHCC Students and Merck Enters Its Second Year".
/ref> This was a semester-long program aimed at providing students with scientific exposure and development opportunities.

In 2019, the Exploratory Science Center hosted a microbiome conference titled the "Systems Biology of the Microbiome Symposium".Systems Biology of the Microbiome Symposium
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References

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Pharmaceutical companies of the United States
Companies based in Cambridge, Massachusetts
2016 establishments in Massachusetts
American companies established in 2016
Pharmaceutical companies established in 2016
Merck & Co.