AI drug breakthrough: Google DeepMind spinoff Isomorphic Labs begins human trials

Isomorphic Labs, the UK-based biotech spinoff of Google DeepMind, is set to begin human trials of drugs designed by its Nobel Prize-winning AI technology.

No one can deny the role of Google DeepMind in revolutionizing drug discovery. For instance, DeepMind's AlphaFold has fundamentally transformed the scientists’ understanding of protein structures.

Now, the platform faces its next major challenge: proving it can transition from mapping biology to actively designing safe, effective new medicines.

Talking to the Wired, the Isomorphic Labs President, Max Jaderberg, said, “We're gearing up to go into the clinic. It's going to be a very exciting moment as we go into clinical trials and start seeing the efficacy of these molecules.”

However, Jaderberg did not stipulate the definite timeline, but it’s later than the company had planned to start human studies. But, the DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said, by the end of 2025, the company would enter clinical trials of AI-designed drugs.

Founded in 2021, Isomorphic Labs, a spinoff from Alphabet’s AI research subsidiary, Google DeepMind. The company deploys AlphaFold for drug discovery.

Isomorphic Labs recently introduced IsoDDE (Iso Drug Design Engine), a tool claimed to be twice as accurate as AlphaFold 3, a tool released in 2024.

The company also collaborated with pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Novartis. It is also developing an internal pipeline of medicines focused on immunology and oncology.

These AI-designed molecules are engineered to be more potent, meaning patients can take lower doses with fewer side effects and off-target complications.

“The exciting thing about the molecules that we're designing is because we have so much more of an understanding about how these molecules work, we've engineered them to be very, very potent,” Jaderberg said.

The company is also developing a clinical development team with the mission of solving all diseases.

Jaderberg said, “It's a crazy mission. But we really mean it. We say it with a straight face, because we believe this should be possible.”