Isomorphic Labs, the AI drug discovery company spun out of Google DeepMind in 2021, is in talks to raise about $5 billion at a valuation of about $50 billion, according to a report published Wednesday. The talks are at an early stage, terms could still change, and the investors expected to back the round have not been named.
The $50 billion figure is a step up from earlier reporting. In early October, Isomorphic was reported to be in talks at a valuation of at least $40 billion. Isomorphic Labs has not commented on the new round.
The raise would follow two large rounds. Isomorphic took its first outside money in 2025, a $600 million round led by Thrive Capital. In May 2026 it closed a $2.1 billion Series B, again led by Thrive, with Alphabet, GV, CapitalG, MGX, Temasek and the UK Sovereign AI Fund participating. At the time it was the largest round ever raised by an AI biotech company.
Key facts
- 01Isomorphic Labs is in early talks to raise about $5 billion at a valuation of about $50 billion.
- 02Talks in early October were reported at a valuation of at least $40 billion.
- 03Isomorphic raised $600 million in 2025 and a $2.1 billion Series B led by Thrive Capital in May 2026.
- 04A closed round would bring total funding to close to $7.7 billion in about 18 months.
- 05Isomorphic has not yet tested its own drug candidates in humans; Hassabis now targets trials by end of 2026.
If the new round closes at the reported size, Isomorphic Labs will have raised close to $7.7 billion in about 18 months.
Demis Hassabis runs Isomorphic alongside his role as CEO of Google DeepMind. He won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for AlphaFold. Isomorphic designs drug candidates with an in-house engine called IsoDDE, and its stated goal is to cut drug development timelines from roughly a decade and to "solve all disease."
The company has signed partnerships with large drugmakers. In early 2024 it agreed to a deal with Eli Lilly worth $45 million upfront and up to $1.7 billion in milestones, and one with Novartis worth $37.5 million upfront and up to $1.2 billion in milestones. The Novartis deal initially covered three targets and was expanded in 2025. Johnson & Johnson is also a partner, with terms undisclosed.
Isomorphic has not yet tested a drug candidate of its own in humans. Its internal pipeline focuses on oncology and immunology. In early 2025 Hassabis said AI-designed drugs would be in clinical trials by the end of that year. At Davos in January, he moved the target to the end of 2026.
Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks, whose company is one of Isomorphic's partners, has questioned how far general AI models reach in drug discovery. Speaking on Derek Thompson's podcast this spring, Ricks said language models are "not particularly good" at biology and chemistry.
“they’re trained on the human language, not on the language of chemistry, physics, and biology.”— Dave Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly
Other AI-first drug developers are further along in the clinic. Recursion Pharmaceuticals, listed on Nasdaq, has several candidates in human trials.
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