Stock Markets May 12, 2026 12:23 PM

Isomorphic Labs Secures $2.1 Billion to Expand AI-Powered Drug Design

London-based DeepMind spin-off raises large follow-on round as it shifts timelines for first clinical trials

By Leila Farooq GOOGL

Isomorphic Labs said on May 12 that it raised $2.1 billion in a funding round led by existing investor Thrive Capital, with participation from both existing and new backers. The capital will be used to scale its AI-driven drug design platform, as the company now targets first clinical trials by the end of 2026, a year later than an earlier goal.

Isomorphic Labs Secures $2.1 Billion to Expand AI-Powered Drug Design
GOOGL

Key Points

  • Isomorphic Labs raised $2.1 billion in a funding round led by existing investor Thrive Capital, with participation from Google Ventures, Alphabet, MGX, Temasek and CapitalG - impacting the biotech and AI sectors.
  • The company plans to use the proceeds to scale its AI-based drug design engine, leveraging advances such as AlphaFold to accelerate drug research - relevant to healthcare, biotech and technology markets.
  • Isomorphic now expects first clinical trials by the end of 2026, delayed from an earlier target of end-2025, which affects timelines for potential biotech partnerships and R&D investment decisions.

May 12 - Isomorphic Labs, a company using artificial intelligence to advance drug discovery, announced on Wednesday that it has closed a $2.1 billion funding round led by existing investor Thrive Capital. The financing, completed at an undisclosed valuation, also saw participation from existing backers Google Ventures and Alphabet, alongside new investors MGX, Temasek and CapitalG.

The company said the fresh capital will be directed toward building its drug design engine at scale. In a statement, founder and CEO Demis Hassabis said the funding "allows us to build out our drug design engine at scale, driving us forward in our mission to solve all diseases."

Isomorphic was launched in 2021 as a spin-off from Google DeepMind, the AI research lab that became part of Alphabet in 2014. One of DeepMind and Hassabis' most notable developments is AlphaFold, an AI system capable of predicting protein structures, a capability that can aid scientists in designing drugs and targeting disease mechanisms.

Hassabis added that after demonstrating the fundamental soundness of the company's approach, the current focus is on scaling the technology to its full potential: "Now that we have shown our approach is fundamentally sound, our focus is on scaling our technology to its full potential."

The company now expects its first clinical trials to begin by the end of 2026, moving that milestone back from an earlier target of having AI-designed drugs in trials by the end of 2025.

Isomorphic, which is based in London, previously raised $600 million in its initial funding round last year, a round that was also led by Thrive Capital.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the valuation.


Promotional note included in the original material: A separate service called ProPicks AI evaluates GOOGL alongside thousands of other companies every month using more than 100 financial metrics, identifying stock ideas by assessing fundamentals, momentum and valuation. The material highlighted that the AI has identified past winners such as Super Micro Computer (+185%) and AppLovin (+157%), and suggested users could check whether GOOGL is featured in current strategies.

Risks

  • Timing risk: The company pushed its target for first clinical trials from the end of 2025 to the end of 2026, introducing uncertainty around near-term clinical progress - this could influence biotech and healthcare investment horizons.
  • Valuation transparency: The funding round closed at an undisclosed valuation and the company did not immediately comment on valuation, leaving investors without public clarity on pricing - relevant to private-market and venture funding assessments.
  • Execution and scaling uncertainty: While the company says its approach is fundamentally sound, scaling AI-driven drug design to deliver clinical candidates remains a challenge - this impacts expectations in the AI-for-healthcare and biotech R&D sectors.

More from Stock Markets

TrueBlue Shares Rise After HireQuest Offers $105M for PeopleReady On-Demand Unit May 12, 2026 U.S. Equities Finish Mixed as Healthcare, Telecoms and Energy Outperform; Tech and Industrials Slip May 12, 2026 Bovespa Ends Lower as Utilities, Industrials Drag Stocks to One-Month Low May 12, 2026 Canadian equities tick higher as energy, staples and materials lead gains May 12, 2026 Intuitive Machines Selected for Space Force Andromeda IDIQ to Develop GEO Surveillance Systems May 12, 2026