Isomorphic Labs, a London-based spinout of Google DeepMind, has raised $600 million (£464.6m) in its inaugural external funding round. Led by Sir Demis Hassabis, the Nobel Prize-winning co-founder of DeepMind, the company aims to leverage AI to revolutionise pharmaceutical development, bolstered by the investment from Thrive Capital, Alphabet, and Google Ventures.
The funding round, announced this week, underscores the growing investor confidence in AI’s potential to transform the life sciences sector. Thrive Capital, a New York-based venture capital firm known for backing tech giants like OpenAI and Stripe, spearheaded the investment.
Alphabet, the parent company of both Google and DeepMind, and Google Ventures, its independent venture arm, also participated, reinforcing Isomorphic’s ties to its technological lineage.
Dealroom, a data analytics platform, estimates the company’s valuation could now reach $3.6 billion, positioning it as a frontrunner in the burgeoning field of AI-assisted drug discovery.
The company’s latest funding will accelerate the development of its proprietary AI drug design engine and support its transition into clinical-stage programmes.
So, what’s this all about, and why should you care?
Isomorphic Labs isn’t your average startup. It’s a spinout from DeepMind, a Google-owned AI outfit that’s been turning heads for a while. Hassabis, who co-founded DeepMind and still runs it, started Isomorphic inside that company before giving it its own legs in 2021.
It’s still tied to Alphabet, Google’s parent company, as a subsidiary, which means it’s got some serious backup. This week, they announced they’ve raised $600 million from some heavy hitters: Thrive Capital, a New York venture capital firm that’s bet on big names like OpenAI and Stripe, plus Alphabet and Google Ventures, the VC arm that’s a bit more independent from Google itself.
Why’s that matter? Well, $600 million is a ton of cash for a company this young, and it’s a sign that investors think AI could crack open drug discovery like never before.
Hassabis, who’s also a UK government AI advisor, isn’t messing around, he’s got a Nobel Prize in Chemistry under his belt from last year for AlphaFold, an AI tool that figures out protein shapes. Now, he’s aiming to use that kind of tech to speed up finding new drugs.
So, what’s the plan for all that dough? Hassabis says it’s about “turbocharging” their AI drug design engine, think of it like a super-smart computer that can guess how molecules will play together, saving scientists years of trial and error.
They’ve already got AlphaFold 3, the latest version of that Nobel-winning tool, which can predict how proteins, DNA, and other tiny bits interact. According to a piece in Nature, AlphaFold 3 is at least 50% better than older methods at nailing these predictions, sometimes doubling accuracy for tricky stuff (Nature).
That’s huge because understanding molecules is step one in making drugs that actually work.
The cash will also help Isomorphic start testing their own drug ideas in clinical trials, those real-world experiments with humans that decide if a drug’s a winner or a dud.
Plus, it’s pushing them closer to Hassabis’s big dream: “one day solving all disease with the help of AI.” Bold? Absolutely. But with $600 million and a valuation that Dealroom pegs at up to $3.6 billion, they’ve got the firepower to try .
It takes 10-15 years and costs over $2.6 billion per drug, and even then, less than 12% make it to market, according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development .
That’s why AI’s got folks excited, it could slash that time and cost. The market agrees: a report from MarketsandMarkets says AI drug discovery was worth $1.1 billion in 2022 and could hit $4.9 billion by 2028 . Morgan Stanley even reckons AI could churn out 50 new therapies in a decade, worth $50 billion.
The UK’s been a hotspot for this stuff lately. Companies like LabGenius, Curve Therapeutics, and Healx have scored big funding rounds in the last couple of years, and Isomorphic’s $600 million puts it way out front.
It’s not alone globally either, firms like Exscientia and BenevolentAI are in the game too. Thrive Capital’s boss, Joshua Kushner, summed it up: “We believe Isomorphic has earned a rare position to define a new age of drug discovery and design.” That’s a fancy way of saying they think this could be a game-changer.
It’s not all smooth sailing
Now, let’s not get too carried away. AI’s awesome at spotting drug targets fast, but turning those into pills you can buy? That’s still tough. Clinical trials are a beast, long, expensive, and full of flops.
A Science blog points out that AI’s great for early stuff like screening, but it’s not so hot at predicting how humans will react in trials . Plus, it needs top-notch data to work right, garbage in, garbage out, as they say in a PMC review.
Then there’s the Alphabet angle. Some folks worry that Isomorphic’s big brother gives it an unfair edge, tons of computing power and cash that smaller companies can’t match.
Could that mean a few giants like Google end up owning the future of medicine? Maybe. But Hassabis has a history of playing nice, DeepMind shared earlier AlphaFold versions with the world, sparking tons of research. If Isomorphic follows suit, it could lift everyone up.
So, where’s this headed? With $600 million, Isomorphic’s gearing up to polish its AI tools and get those drug candidates into trials.
For the UK, it’s another win, London’s already DeepMind central, and now Isomorphic’s making it a hub for this AI-drug mashup. Hassabis isn’t shy about the goal: solving all disease. That’s a long shot, but if they pull it off, we could see faster fixes for stuff like cancer, rare diseases, or even superbugs that laugh at antibiotics.
The stats back up the hype, $60 billion’s been poured into AI drug discovery worldwide, says GEN. But it’s not just about money; it’s about results. If Isomorphic can bridge the gap from AI predictions to real drugs, it might just rewrite the rulebook.
For now, it’s a waiting game, keep an eye on Hassabis and his crew, because this $600 million bet could be the start of something huge.
