Alphabet subsidiary Isomorphic Labs, eyeing the crown in the nascent AI-designed drugs sector, announced Tuesday that it raised $2.1 billion.
Now, it just has to make good on the whole promise of completely revolutionizing the pharmaceutical industry. No pressure.
Aye, AI, Sir
Isomorphic was founded in 2021 as a spinout of Google DeepMind, the research laboratory responsible for developing the search giant’s AI tools, including Gemini. The CEO and cofounder of both is Demis Hassabis (Google acquired DeepMind in 2014 when it was an independent AI research lab). Isomorphic, which remains under Google parent Alphabet, was cut out to commercialize AlphaFold, a breakthrough tool that can predict a protein’s 3D structure in minutes to hours, something which could previously take years. Hassabis led the development, and if his CV didn’t already make you feel inadequate enough, he and colleague John Jumper won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2024 for AI research into protein structure prediction, and he was given a knighthood (making him “Sir” to British subjects).
Isomorphic raised $600 million in external funding last year and, as with that round, Tuesday’s $2.1 billion round was led by NYC’s Thrive Capital, a major investor in OpenAI. While no fully AI-designed drug has been approved for the market yet, developers say the technology will make development faster and cheaper because AI can scan through massive databases of possible molecules to identify potential treatments. Like funders, pharma companies are lining up:
- Isomorphic has already struck partnerships with Johnson & Johnson, Lilly and Novartis and laid out plans to focus on cancer and immune disorder therapies. The new money, the company said, will go toward developing its drug design engine, IsoDDE, and hiring more engineering and clinical staff.
- Last month, Novo Nordisk said it was partnering with OpenAI to identify drug candidates using AI, while Sanofi has previously teamed with OpenAI and Formation Bio.
Another Spin: Outside funding is not unheard of at Alphabet subsidiaries: Autonomous driving unit Waymo raised $16 billion earlier this year. But Hassabis told Bloomberg News that Isomorphic may end up completely on the outside, saying a full spinoff from Alphabet is “definitely” possible.