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AI drug design and development company Isomorphic Labs announced on Monday that it raised $600 million in its first external funding round.
Thrive Capital led the financing round with participation from Google’s GV, and follow-on capital from Alphabet, its parent company and an existing investor. Isomorphic Labs described plans to use the funds to drive biomedical advances through its AI drug design engine. The company is also enhancing its drug design programs to span a broader range of drug modalities and therapeutic areas.
Founded by Alphabet, building on DeepMind breakthroughs
Since its founding in 2021 by Alphabet, Isomorphic Labs has been no stranger to the AI biotech landscape. The AI research lab has developed several next-generation AI models that can be combined to form a unified AI drug design engine, and received a Nobel Prize for the development of AlphaFold, an AI platform that predicts protein structures. This new investment will support Isomorphic Labs’ mission to advance its AI drug design engine and fund its expanding team of talent as the company grows.
CEO Hassabis: “Funding will turbocharge AI drug design mission”
In a statement Isomorphic Labs founder and CEO, Sir Demis Hassabis, said “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.ˮ
Since its founding, Isomorphic Labs has seen several advancements in AI models. Its AlphaFord 3 model, released in May 2024 by Isomorphic Labs and Google DeepMind, is capable of accurately predicting the structure and interactions of molecules. Breakthroughs like this bring the company further in its mission to rapidly develop and enhance AI drug design engines applicable across multiple therapeutic areas and drug modalities.
Investors’ interest in healthcare AI is high
As exemplified by this funding round, investor interest remains high for healthcare AI initiatives. The global market for AI in drug discovery is primed for growth, having been at $1.99 billion in 2024 and is estimated at $2.65 billion in 2025. The market size is expected to continue expanding over the decade at a CAGR of 29.6% from 2025 to 2034, when it is predicted to reach around $35.42 billion.