Nine Diagnostics is proud to announce its acceptance into the latest cohort of the Merck Digital Sciences Studio (MDS Studio), a digital accelerator designed to enable the next generation of technologies for drug discovery and development, including artificial intelligence and machine learning. MDS Studio was founded to offer support for early-stage biomedical startups providing strategic guidance, direct investment, and connection opportunities within Merck.
Nine Diagnostics, a medical diagnostics company focused on advancing functional precision medicine, was co-founded in 2024 by Freddy T. Nguyen, MD, PhD, Daniel Heller, PhD, and Mijin Kim, PhD. This opportunity marks a significant milestone in the company’s development and its pursuit of advancing precision medicine through an AI-enabled nanosensor platform technology and data analytics.
Nine Diagnostics has developed a proprietary platform designed to analyze biological samples at the molecular level, utilizing fluorescent nanosensors to identify changes indicative of disease states or therapeutic responses. This capability provides clinicians with real-time, granular biological data, enabling a more precise understanding of individual health profiles.
The company’s platform differentiates itself by integrating a novel molecular sensing technology with patient clinical data to create a multidimensional patient profile. This approach facilitates more accurate diagnostics and treatment monitoring, particularly in complex disease areas such as oncology, neurodegenerative disorders, and rare diseases.
Nine Diagnostics’ selection for MDS Studio represents its first major direct investment. This collaboration with MDS Studio will provide Nine Diagnostics with access to expertise, resources, and network, accelerating the development and commercialization of its platform. The company is committed to ongoing partnerships with academic institutions to further explore the applications of its technology across various medical disciplines.
Nine Diagnostics’ participation in MDS Studio underscores its commitment to advancing the field of precision medicine and delivering personalized healthcare solutions to improve patient outcomes.
About Nine Diagnostics
Nine Diagnostics is an AI-enabled multi-omic nanosensor company advancing precision medicine. The platform simultaneously captures proteomic, metabolomic, and lipidomic signals alongside patient clinical context to generate a multi-omic fingerprint, using machine learning to identify disease-relevant patterns without requiring prior knowledge of which biomarkers matter. This enables pre-treatment patient stratification, on-treatment response monitoring, and post-treatment minimal residual disease detection. Founded by Freddy T. Nguyen, MD, PhD (CEO), Daniel A. Heller, PhD (CSO), and Mijin Kim, PhD (Scientific Advisor), Nine Diagnostics is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
About Merck Digital Sciences Studio
The Merck Digital Sciences Studio (MDS Studio or MDSS) is a collaboration between Merck, the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Northpond Ventures, McKesson Ventures, Microsoft for Startups, and the New Jersey Innovation Institute, a New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) subsidiary. The 10-month startup accelerator program empowers members and enables the generation of innovative digital technologies for drug discovery and development through hands-on mentorship, connection opportunities with industry-leading partners, and training in an active entrepreneurial setting. Through the accelerator program, these startups will have access to workshops, coaching, office space, and Microsoft for Startups resources, including up to $150,000 Azure Cloud computing credits.