Isomorphic Labs Strikes Lucrative Partnerships with Eli Lilly and Novartis to Drive AI-Powered Drug Discovery
At the core of Isomorphic's technological arsenal lies its upgraded AlphaFold system, a transformative advancement building on DeepMind's pioneering strides in protein structure prediction.
Isomorphic Labs, an independent entity under Alphabet's umbrella, has embarked on research collaborations with pharmaceutical titans Eli Lilly and Novartis. These deals are to leverage Isomorphic's cutting-edge AI technologies, particularly the latest iteration of DeepMind's revolutionary AlphaFold protein folding software, in the pursuit of identifying and designing small molecule therapies targeting various disease segments.
The strategic agreement with Eli Lilly sees Isomorphic receiving an upfront payment of $45 million, with potential milestone payments reaching up to $1.7 billion, excluding royalties. This collaboration aims to discover treatments across undisclosed therapeutic domains, tapping into Isomorphic's AI capabilities.
Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind and head of Isomorphic Labs, expressed immense enthusiasm for applying their advanced AI and computational power to bolster Lilly's development initiatives.
Similarly, the partnership with Novartis focuses on small molecule discovery against three specific targets. Isomorphic secures an initial payment of $37.5 million, coupled with research cost funding and potential milestone payments of up to $1.2 billion, excluding royalties. Fiona Marshall, President of Biomedical Research at Novartis, acknowledged the game-changing prospects of AI technologies like AlphaFold in revolutionizing drug discovery.
The model's success in predicting clinically significant molecule structures underscores its potential to redefine therapeutic drug design and deepen our comprehension of fundamental biological structures.
With an estimated combined value of approximately $3 billion, these high-profile collaborations signify the growing confidence industry leaders place in AI-powered drug discovery. Similar to how AlphaFold revolutionized protein science, its latest iteration holds promise to catalyze an AI-driven transformation in drug development, potentially shaping the future of medicine.
