MSD Looking for Innovation Across the Healthcare Value Chain
2025. 07. 24 13:47 GMT+0100
For an innovative pharma firm like MSD, developing new drugs is the (admittedly quite expensive) bread and butter. But it is involved in far more than that, including strategic academic partnerships, a recent event with the U.S. Commercial Service, and support for patient advocacy groups, as Konrád Keresztes, associate director of the health policy and communications team in Hungary, tells the Budapest Business Journal.
Written by: Robin Marshall, BBJ
The most recent academic linkup, signed at the end of May, is with Semmelweis University. Choosing it to partner up with was “a no-brainer,” in the words of Keresztes.
“The competencies they have uniquely complement what we do at MSD, and we believe in partnering up with those where, together, we can make a difference in improving healthcare provision across many different areas,” Keresztes says.
One area of focus is data-driven healthcare. The strategic agreement seeks to extend an existing collaboration with Semmelweis, one of whose professors is also a key driver in most of MSD’s local data generation projects.
“With his and his team’s help, we are building a unique chronic disease dashboard focused on epidemiological data. There are some details I can’t share yet, but we are also working on something much larger, one specific project which we are setting up with them, which would have an impact beyond the country’s borders.”
For both partners, the attraction of the relationship is obvious. MSD has a considerable footprint in clinical trials, and Semmelweis is the largest medical university in the region. MSD has a pipeline of medicines scheduled for release over the next couple of years, which will open up new therapeutic areas, and the university’s leadership is very interested in the possibilities these will raise. Beyond testing medicines, though, there’s the broader scope of screening, prevention and diagnostics.
“For example, we are partnering in a new MSc healthcare data course at Semmelweis University. MSD can provide cutting-edge contemporary industrial knowledge to the students enrolled in the course,” says Keresztes.
Patient Pathways
“We’re looking to promote and develop more personalized medicine solutions with some advice in terms of AI. We also aim to improve existing algorithms and create new ones with the help of the university. And something that we are really proud of is that we have signed a unique program, mostly focusing on oncology so far, called the patient pathway optimization program to find the gaps in the patient journey for specific treatments, diagnosis and screening,” he says. Once those gaps have been identified, suggestions can be made about how to decrease the time from diagnosis to treatment.
“We are very specifically looking at the head and neck indications right now, but we would also extend it to lung cancer and maybe even women’s cancers.” Cancer is one of the biggest killers in Hungary, with approximately 30,000 deaths annually.[1]
There is no formal endpoint to the collaboration, and the partners continue to identify new areas for cooperation. The Semmelweis University plans to establish a science park next year, aiming to foster academic-industrial partnerships and innovation. It is looking for Hungarian companies willing to invest in healthcare sciences.
“They need larger, more experienced partners, such as MSD, to provide knowledge and the infrastructure where applicable. I hope that this will also become an example of good practice, not only for MSD but for any other industry player in the market, because I think we can all learn from each other.”
One of the benefits of the relationship for MSD is “we can make sure that graduates are prepared for what’s out in the real world, so they are not thrown back by real life challenges but are prepared for what they can expect, not just in MSD, but from pretty much any pharma company.”
Semmelweis has a goal of becoming a top 100 global healthcare university, but MSD is not limiting itself to working with this one institution.
“We strongly believe in mutually beneficial partnerships, which is not about business, but rather the patient outcomes and the needs of healthcare and how it can be improved for better outcomes. We signed another collaboration with the University of Szeged (SZTE), and together have created a very unique department, which is focusing on drug development,” Keresztes explains.
Innovative and Unique
The SZTE-MSD Industry Partnership Department will focus on pharmaceutical research and education. Its aim is not only to enhance ongoing educational programs but also to launch additional collaborations, such as doctoral programs or student research projects.
“Essentially, the department’s sole focus will be clinical medicine and clinical research development. It’s something that hasn’t been done by an innovative, multinational pharma company in Hungary before, and we’re very proud of it,” says Keresztes.
“We have partnerships with all the medical universities in Hungary in one form or another. However, we also have partnerships with non-medical universities, and we would like to extend collaboration in that segment too.”
Strategic relations are not limited to academia, though. MSD has launched a new program with the commercial service at the U.S. Embassy, focusing on how organizations can take an innovative approach to their employees’ health. There has also been a recent “patient day” organized with advocacy groups from the field of pulmonary artery hypotension and organ transplants.
“It was more about raising awareness of their work and how we can help them. What we do at the end of the day is always for patients. This is one way; just to listen and understand them and support their respective groups.”
AI is now being used across the whole healthcare value chain. Examples globally start with how a patient is admitted to hospital, or is triaged. Software that has been in use for a while has been automated and accelerated by AI. The same applies to reviewing radiology images or electronic health records in Hungary.
“There’s an automated image annotation process that has been implemented in Semmelweis University, for example, which they are already testing for mammography and colorectal screening. We can also leverage AI in the repurposing of existing drugs for use in other diseases. There are lots of ongoing collaborations with Deep Mind from Google or Nvidia and other pharma companies in the global scene.”
Success Stories
One success story is Turbine AI, founded by three Hungarians, which is involved in drug repurposing and accelerating drug development by narrowing down drug candidates and testing them in silico through programming. It is one of the most important investments for MSD in Hungary via the MSD Global Health Innovation Fund.
Another example is Genomate Health, based in Boston, a spin-out and partner company of the Budapest-based Oncompass Medicine. It compares all available therapies for a given genetic set and selects those that would provide the best health outcome for a given patient.
“Genomate Health was a founding member of CancerX, a White House initiative to accelerate innovation in the fight against cancer. With AI, even a Hungarian startup can arrive in Boston and be part of a White House initiative. I think this is a huge achievement, and it’s something we can also stand behind,” Keresztes says.
As the BBJ has reported previously, MSD is involved in generating and analyzing real-world evidence through data from partner Hungarian hospitals, presenting insights to decision-makers to help deliver more informed decisions.
Building on that, the European Health Data Space Regulation (EHDS) is around the corner. Adopted in March of this year, the first key elements will be applied from March 2029 to establish a common framework for the use and exchange of electronic health data across the EU.
“It’s going to drive our focus toward our National Health Cloud strategy and how it is going to open up for research and a tremendous amount of innovation potential for the country,” explains Keresztes. “If the government is open for collaboration with real innovators, there’s a high chance that it is going to be very successful, and MSD is going to be a top partner in terms of innovation for them.” Given that MSD has a European as well as a Hungarian footprint, might it be involved in both levels?
„We are in talks with the relevant stakeholders on how we can contribute to the local implementation of EHDS. It’s still in the early phases for any formal agreement, but it’s a conversation that both parties are interested in having,” Keresztes says.
If that is for the near future, so is a partnership that, if all goes according to plan, could be realized this year, including a unique framework between academia and industry players. There is also ongoing collaboration with EIT Health, which unites business, research and education to bring innovative, real-world health solutions to market. Keresztes can say very little, other than the parties have been in discussion for more than a year.
“If we can pull it off, it will be huge news,” he teases.
This article was made possible by MSD Pharma Hungary Kft. 1095 Budapest, Lechner Ödön fasor 10/B, +36-1-888-5300, hungary_msd@msd.com, date of closing: 02/07/2025. HU-NON-01703
[1] https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2025/02/eu-country-cancer-profile-hungary-2025_d482f082/344b5f49-en.pdf