Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Yumanity Therapeutics and Boston-based Proteostasis Therapeutics announced plans to merge. The combined company will operate after the deal as Yumanity Therapeutics, and will focus on protein misfolding and neurodegenerative diseases.

Yumanity Therapeutics and Merck signed a strategic research and license deal for two Yumanity programs. The two preclinical programs are for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar dementia (FTLD).