AI Drug Startup Isomorphic Eyes $50bn Valuation
Isomorphic Labs seeks $5bn while its drug candidates remain preclinical, with first human trials expected by the end of 2026.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Biotech
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Isomorphic Labs, the London-based drug discovery company spun out of Google DeepMind in 2021, is in talks to raise about $5bn at a valuation of about $50bn, according to Bloomberg. The financing has not closed, and the company has no drug in human trials; its drug work remains at preclinical stages.
Why it matters
The reported valuation signals how much investors are willing to pay for AI-driven drug design before any candidate has reached human testing. It follows a $2.1bn round led by Thrive Capital in May and a $400m raise by OpenAI-backed Chai Discovery in July, suggesting the AI-for-drug-discovery funding race is accelerating.
Isomorphic Labs' drug design engine, IsoDDE, can search for new molecules on a computer in days, according to the company. The reported figures are funding amounts and valuations rather than performance benchmarks, and no independent measurement of the engine's output has been published.
The players
Isomorphic Labs
London-based drug discovery company built on the AlphaFold protein structure model and its IsoDDE molecular design engine, with no drug yet in human trials.
Google DeepMind
Alphabet's AI research lab that developed the AlphaFold protein structure model and spun out Isomorphic Labs in 2021.
Demis Hassabis
Chief executive of Isomorphic Labs and a co-developer of AlphaFold at Google DeepMind.
Thrive Capital
Venture investment firm that led Isomorphic Labs' $2.1bn round in May.
Chai Discovery
OpenAI-backed AI drug discovery startup that raised $400m in July.
The details
Isomorphic Labs builds on AlphaFold, the protein structure prediction model developed at Google DeepMind, which predicts the three-dimensional shape a protein folds into from its amino acid sequence. The company's IsoDDE drug design engine applies that structural understanding to search for candidate molecules that might bind to a target protein, a process that traditionally takes far longer in the lab. Because the search runs computationally, candidates can be screened in silico before any chemical synthesis. Chief executive Demis Hassabis and president Max Jaderberg lead the company, which has not yet advanced a drug into human trials.
Timeline
2021: Isomorphic Labs spun out of Google DeepMind.
October: Bloomberg reported early talks for a round valuing the company at $40bn or more.
May: Isomorphic Labs raised $2.1bn in a round led by Thrive Capital.
July: OpenAI-backed Chai Discovery raised $400m.
November 5, 2026: Bloomberg reported talks for a $5bn round at a $50bn valuation.
The Tech Race
Isomorphic Labs is positioned against Chai Discovery, the OpenAI-backed startup that raised $400m in July, in a race to turn AI protein modeling into drug candidates. The company's progress will be judged by whether its preclinical work reaches the first clinical trials it expects to start by the end of 2026.
For patients, the practical effect is not yet available: Isomorphic Labs has no drug in human trials, so no treatment from this work can be accessed today. Its first clinical trials are expected to begin by the end of 2026, the earliest point at which candidates could be tested in people.
The takeaway
The valuation climb from $40bn in October to a proposed $50bn signals investor conviction that AI can compress drug discovery timelines. Watch whether Isomorphic Labs meets its target of starting clinical trials by the end of 2026, the first verifiable test of its approach in human patients.
What happens next
Isomorphic Labs expects to start its first clinical trials by the end of 2026, a milestone that will show whether its AI-designed candidates can enter human testing. The financing talks reported by Bloomberg remain open and have not closed.
Further reading
For broader context on how machine learning is reshaping drug design, explore our Biotech coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Next Web.
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