Isomorphic Labs in talks to raise $5bn at a $50bn valuation, Bloomberg reports

Isomorphic Labs, the drug discovery company spun out of Google DeepMind, is in talks to raise about $5bn, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. The round would put the Isomorphic Labs valuation at about $50bn, according to people familiar with the matter.

The financing has not closed and the details could change, the people told Rebecca Torrence and Natasha Mascarenhas of Bloomberg. TNW has not independently verified the report.

Bloomberg reported in October that Isomorphic was in early talks for a round valuing it at $40bn or more, and as high as $50bn. In May, the company raised $2.1bn in a round led by Thrive Capital, with Alphabet among the other investors.

Still before the clinic

London-based Isomorphic spun out of DeepMind in 2021 to build on its AlphaFold protein structure model. Its chief executive is Demis Hassabis, who also runs Google DeepMind.

In January, Hassabis said Isomorphic expected to start its first clinical trials by the end of 2026, Bloomberg reported. On Monday, at Bloomberg Tech in London, Isomorphic president Max Jaderberg said its drug work was still in preclinical stages. He described the company as in its “first innings”.

Jaderberg set out the company’s approach in an article in September. He wrote that Isomorphic’s drug design engine, IsoDDE, can search for new molecules on a computer in days.

“Our hypothesis has been proven. Our preclinical data is helping us to gear up for clinical developments.” Max Jaderberg, president, Isomorphic Labs

A crowded field

Isomorphic competes with a range of companies applying AI to medicine, Bloomberg noted. They include OpenAI, which released a life sciences model this year.

OpenAI-backed Chai Discovery raised $400m in July. Google DeepMind itself broke up its AlphaFold team behind the Nobel-winning model this summer.