Merck & Co. set up its Exploratory Science Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to keep a finger on the pulse of emerging biological science, with a disease-agnostic scope and nimble mindset. Headed up by Daria Hazuda, CSO of the centre and vice president of infectious diseases and vaccine discovery at Merck, for now it focuses on the interaction between the microbiome and human immunity. 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.