Isomorphic Labs, the London-based AI drug design company spun out of Google DeepMind, announced on May 12 that it had closed a $2.1 billion Series B financing round, one of the largest private investments in an AI-native biotechnology to date. <cite index="4-3,4-4">The company described the round as accelerating its evolution from pioneering novel AI models to applying them at scale.</cite>
<cite index="4-5">The financing was led by Thrive Capital, with participation from existing backers Alphabet and GV alongside new investors MGX, Temasek, CapitalG, and the UK Sovereign AI Fund.</cite> <cite index="7-3">MGX is Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund and Temasek is Singapore's state investor</cite>, giving the round an unusually broad sovereign-capital footprint for a preclinical drug discovery company. <cite index="7-4">The round was completed at an undisclosed valuation.</cite>
From research spinout to commercial platform
<cite index="7-7">Isomorphic Labs was founded in 2021 as a spinout from Google DeepMind, Alphabet's AI research lab, with a focus on commercializing the AlphaFold protein-structure prediction model.</cite> The Series B follows <cite index="7-9">a 2025 Series A of $600 million, also led by Thrive Capital.</cite> <cite index="7-10,7-11">CEO Demis Hassabis told Bloomberg that returning to a familiar backer rather than courting new ones was a deliberate choice, citing the time required to road-show.</cite>
<cite index="4-6">The new capital will be used for continued development and deployment of Isomorphic Labs' AI drug design engine, called IsoDDE (Isomorphic Drug Design Engine), accelerating and expanding its pipeline of therapeutic programs toward the clinic.</cite> <cite index="9-5">Funding will also support hiring across AI, engineering, drug design, and clinical talent at the company's sites in London, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Lausanne, Switzerland.</cite> <cite index="7-6">Hassabis said the funding will help expand the company's headcount from over 350 people, according to Bloomberg.</cite>
Pipeline timing and pharma partnerships
<cite index="7-15">The Alphabet spinout plans to use the capital to expand its drug pipeline and push candidates toward clinical trials by the end of 2026</cite> — <cite index="5-6">a delay from the CEO's earlier target of having AI-designed drugs in trials by the end of 2025.</cite> Isomorphic does not yet have a therapeutic candidate in human studies, making the round notable for sizing institutional conviction in the platform itself rather than clinical data.
<cite index="6-16">Isomorphic Labs maintains strategic partnerships with industry incumbents including Novartis, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson</cite>, deals struck in 2023 and 2024 that provide upfront payments, milestone fees, and royalties tied to candidates designed on its platform. <cite index="2-7">Isomorphic designs potential drugs with AI models such as AlphaFold 3, a Google DeepMind-partnered model that can predict the structures and interactions of molecules.</cite>
Statements and structure
In the company release, <cite index="6-13,6-14,6-15">Hassabis called the round "a massive vote of confidence" in the company's AI-first approach, adding that "now that we have shown our approach is fundamentally sound, our focus is on scaling our technology to its full potential" and that the capital allows the company to build out its drug design engine at scale.</cite> Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google, said the funding would be used to bring interventions to market with greater speed.
<cite index="7-12,7-13">A full separation from Alphabet at some point down the road has not been ruled out, Hassabis indicated to Bloomberg, calling it "definitely one of the options."</cite> The Series B's mix of sovereign and crossover investors is consistent with a structure that could support an eventual independent public listing.