Isomorphic Labs, a spinout of Google DeepMind developing AI drug discovery technology, has raised $600m (£464.6m) in its first external funding round since its formation in 2021.
The company is the latest venture from Sir Demis Hassabis, the Nobel Prize-winning co-founder and CEO of DeepMind and UK government AI advisor. Hassabis launched Isomorphic from within his company before officially spinning off, though it remains a subsidiary of DeepMind owner Alphabet.
The round was led by Thrive Capital, a New York VC that has backed OpenAI, Stripe and Databricks, with additional funding from Alphabet and Google Ventures – a separated VC arm of the Google parent company.
Firms using AI to enhance drug discovery capabilities have been attracting significant investment. In the UK, there have been major rounds for the likes of LabGenius, Curve Therapeutics and Healx, among others, in the past two years.
But Isomorphic’s latest raise puts it far ahead, with a valuation estimated by Dealroom to be as high as $3.6bn. The company also benefits from the vast resources of one of the world’s biggest companies and a deep pool of expertise from DeepMind.
“We’re excited to bring together a top-tier investor group with deep AI and life sciences expertise as we aim to transform this industry through an interdisciplinary approach,” said Hassabis.
“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.”
Isomorphic has developed a number of AI models for its unified AI drug design engine, including the recently launched AlphaFold 3 – which landed the company’s founder with a Nobel Prize in chemistry – which can predict the structure and interactions of molecules.
“At Thrive, we aim to invest in category-defining companies with singular conviction, and that has led us to Isomorphic Labs,” said Joshua Kushner, founder and CEO of Thrive Capital.
“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.”
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