Key Summary
- Isomorphic Labs is getting ready to start human testing of its AI-designed drugs
- The company has research collaborations with pharma companies Novartis and Eli Lilly
- Isomorphic is also designing its internal drug candidates in areas such as oncology and immunology
Alphabet’s drug discovery arm, Isomorphic Labs, is close to launching human trials of AI-designed drugs, Fortune reports.
The London-based company is pairing cutting-edge AI with pharma veterans to design medicines faster, cheaper, and more accurately.
Isomorphic Labs president Colin Murdoch told the magazine that after years in development it is getting ready to start human testing of its AI-designed drugs.
The company was spun out of Google DeepMind in 2021, after a breakthrough in AlphaFold, an AI system capable of predicting protein structures with a high level of accuracy.
AlphaFold was later developed to formulate models of how proteins interact with other molecules, like DNA and drugs.
These enhancements made it useful for drug discovery, helping researchers design medicines faster and more precisely.
In 2024, Isomorphic signed research collaborations with pharma companies Novartis and Eli Lilly and supports their existing drug programmes.
Isomorphic is also designing its internal drug candidates in areas such as oncology and immunology, intending to eventually licence them out after trials.
Murdoch also claims that Isomorphic's tech could help pharma companies improve their success rate during drug trials.
