DoubleTwist has licensed its annotated human genome database package to Merck, the first major pharmaceutical company to publicly sign on for the company’s database.

Under the terms of the two-year deal, Merck and seven of its affiliates will use DoubleTwist’s Prophecy annotated human genome database in their drug discovery efforts.

The deal also includes access to software for data interpretation and visualization.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Merck did not return calls seeking comment about the decision to subscribe to Prophecy.