Isomorphic Labs Lands $600M to Accelerate AI-Powered Drug Discovery

Isomorphic Labs, a Google-backed venture, has secured $600 million in its inaugural round of outside investment to deploy machine learning technologies in drug discovery and development. Thrive Capital led the financing, with Google Ventures also participating. The London-headquartered firm will additionally receive supplementary funding from parent company Alphabet, which originally backed the company when it was separated from Google DeepMind in 2021.

Founder and Chief Executive Sir Demis Hassabis commented on the milestone: "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."

AI and biotech

The investment represents another substantial capital infusion into the growing sector of AI-driven pharmaceutical companies. Over the past year and beyond, the space has witnessed several major funding announcements.

• Xaira Therapeutics, headquartered in San Francisco, raised $1 billion in Series A funding last spring, with backing from Arch Venture Partners and Foresite Capital
• Formation Bio, based in New York, closed a $372 million Series D round last summer with Andreessen Horowitz as lead investor

The transaction marks another major bet for Thrive, the New York-based firm established by Joshua Kushner. In December, Thrive led Databricks' $10 billion financing round, which valued the data analytics company at $62 billion—making it the largest venture funding deal of 2024 and among the most significant ever recorded. The firm also spearheaded OpenAI's $6.6 billion round in October, which placed the artificial intelligence company's valuation at $150 billion.