London, April 2, 2025 – The future of medicine lies in algorithms. Isomorphic Labs, the biotech company backed by Alphabet (parent company of Google), has closed a funding round of $600 million to accelerate the development of its AI-based drug discovery platform.
Founded in 2021 as a spin-off from DeepMind, Isomorphic Labs aims to radically change the way drugs are created. Instead of relying on costly and lengthy trial-and-error processes, the company focuses on computational models that can predict how molecules and proteins interact at the atomic level, paving the way for faster, more effective, and personalized treatments.
AI as the engine of new medicine
At the core of this vision are tools like AlphaFold, the system developed by DeepMind that solved one of the great mysteries of biology: how proteins fold. This technology has been regarded by the scientific community as one of the greatest advancements of the past decade, and in 2024, it was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Demis Hassabis (founder of Isomorphic Labs) and John Jumper.
AlphaFold enables the understanding of the three-dimensional structure of thousands of human proteins with high precision, a crucial foundation for designing new treatments. With this knowledge, Isomorphic Labs’ platform can simulate how potential drugs work on a computer, reducing years of research down to weeks.
Million-dollar interest and partnerships with pharmaceutical companies
The newly announced investment has been led by Thrive Capital, along with GV (Google Ventures) and Alphabet. The goal is clear: to rapidly scale the team and take virtual discoveries to clinical trials.
The company is already collaborating with giants in the pharmaceutical sector like Eli Lilly and Novartis, in agreements that could reach up to $3 billion in milestone payments if the results are positive.
The end of clinical trials as we know them?
While AI accelerates discovery, drugs still need to go through strict controls and human trials before reaching the market. However, Isomorphic Labs believes its technology can reduce the development time from over a decade to just a few years, with significant cost savings.
This could facilitate the treatment of rare diseases, where it currently does not make economic sense to research, or even enable the creation of drugs customized according to each patient’s genetic profile.
Technology serving health
Alphabet’s commitment to computational biomedicine is part of a growing trend: the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare. From AI-assisted diagnostics to epidemic prediction or vaccine development, major tech companies are making strong inroads into a field traditionally dominated by the pharmaceutical industry.
Isomorphic Labs represents a further step: it not only uses AI to improve what already exists but also proposes a radical shift in the biomedical R&D model.
What’s next
With the new funding, the company plans to:
- Expand its team of scientists and engineers
- Enhance its drug design engine
- Deepen collaborations with new pharmaceutical companies
- Initiate early-stage clinical trials
In an era where artificial intelligence is transforming diverse sectors such as education, transportation, and finance, biomedicine appears to be the next major field of disruption. And all signs point to Isomorphic Labs being one of its main players.
Source: AI News