Isomorphic Labs, a London-headquartered AI-first drug design company and subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, announced on March 31 that it has secured $600 million in its first external funding round to accelerate the development of its next-generation AI drug discovery platform.
The significant financing round was led by Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm founded by Joshua Kushner, with additional participation from Google's venture capital arm GV and follow-on investment from Alphabet.
"This funding will further turbocharge the development of our next-generation AI drug design engine, help us advance our own programs into clinical development, and is a significant step forward towards our mission of one day solving all disease with the help of AI," said Sir Demis Hassabis, founder and CEO of Isomorphic Labs, who also serves as CEO of Google DeepMind.
Revolutionary AI Technology for Drug Discovery
Isomorphic Labs was spun out of DeepMind in 2021 as a commercial venture with the ambitious goal of reimagining the entire drug discovery process using an AI-first approach. The company's foundation builds upon AlphaFold, the Nobel-winning AI model developed by DeepMind that can accurately predict protein structures.
In May 2024, Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs jointly developed and released AlphaFold 3, a significant advancement that expands beyond proteins to provide accurate predictions for interactions between proteins and other biomolecules in living cells, including DNA, RNA, and small molecules.
The company has developed a suite of next-generation AI models that together form a unified drug design engine capable of working across multiple therapeutic areas and drug modalities. This technological platform aims to dramatically accelerate the traditionally lengthy and costly drug development process.
Strategic Pharmaceutical Partnerships and Internal Programs
Isomorphic Labs has built an impressive drug discovery portfolio that includes collaborations with pharmaceutical industry leaders Eli Lilly and Novartis. Notably, Novartis recently expanded the scope of their original collaboration just over a year after initiating the relationship, adding up to three additional research programs.
Beyond these partnerships, the company is advancing internal drug development programs with a primary focus on oncology and immunology. The new funding will enable Isomorphic Labs to progress these candidates toward clinical development.
"We believe Isomorphic has earned a rare position to define a new age of drug discovery and design, and we are deeply inspired by their mission and the extraordinary progress they have made to date," said Joshua Kushner, Founder and CEO of Thrive Capital, which led the funding round.
Expanding Team and Capabilities
The substantial investment will be used to accelerate Isomorphic Labs' frontier AI research and development efforts, with a significant portion allocated to expanding its team of interdisciplinary experts at the intersection of artificial intelligence and life sciences.
"AI and machine learning have long held the promise of transforming drug discovery, yet few companies over the past decade have unlocked their full potential," noted Dr. Krishna Yeshwant, Managing Partner at GV. "After witnessing the extraordinary pace of innovation at Isomorphic Labs, we believe their pioneering approach will redefine AI-powered drug discovery."
The company currently maintains headquarters in London with an additional office in Lausanne, Switzerland, positioning it within key European biotech and pharmaceutical innovation hubs.
The Future of AI-Driven Drug Development
Isomorphic Labs represents a new generation of biotech companies leveraging cutting-edge AI capabilities to address the significant challenges in pharmaceutical development. The traditional drug discovery process typically takes years and billions of dollars, with high failure rates in clinical trials.
By applying advanced AI models to predict molecular structures and interactions with unprecedented accuracy, Isomorphic Labs aims to identify promising drug candidates more efficiently, potentially reducing development timelines and costs while increasing success rates.
The $600 million funding round signals strong investor confidence in the company's approach and technology platform. As Isomorphic Labs advances its partnerships and internal programs toward clinical development, the biotech industry will be watching closely to see if this AI-first approach can deliver on its promise to transform drug discovery and ultimately bring new treatments to patients more quickly and effectively.
