Alphabet’s AI drug development subsidiary Isomorphic Labs is aiming to initiate clinical trials for its AI-developed oncology drugs.
In an interview with Fortune, Isomorphic Labs president Colin Murdoch shared that four years after its founding, the company is preparing to dose the first patients in clinical trials. He added that the business is “staffing up” ahead of the trials.
Isomorphic previously said it is planning to advance oncology candidates to clinical trials first, something that Murdoch confirmed in the interview with Fortune; however, the AlphaFold system can develop drugs beyond oncology indications.
Isomorphic co-developed AlphaFold 3 with Google DeepMind, an AI model that can accurately predict complex protein structures and molecular interactions. AlphaFold was developed by John Jumper and Demis Hassabis, who won the Nobel Prize in 2024.
Isomorphic Labs has been working on other AI models to help design new therapies.
In March 2025, Isomorphic Labs raised $600m via a financing round led by Thrive Capital, which has been used to continue developing the AI drug-design engine and advance the pipeline into clinical trials.
“This funding will further turbocharge the development of our next-generation AI drug design engine, help us advance our own programmes into clinical development, and is a significant step forward towards our mission of one day solving all disease with the help of AI,” Isomorphic Labs CEO Demi Hassabis said in March.
Isomorphic also has partnerships with pharma giants, including Novartis and Eli Lilly, worth nearly $3bn.
A number of biotechs are using AI to assist in drug development, including Anima Biotech, Pharos AI, and Iktos. In January 2025, Novo Nordisk also showed its ambition to utilise AI in drug discovery with a $2.76bn partnership with Valo Health.
In fact, according to GlobalData’s Drugs database, there are currently more than 3,000 drugs developed or repurposed using AI, with most of them in early stages of development – either discovery or preclinical.
Urte Jakimaviciute, senior director of market research and strategic intelligence at GlobalData, said: “The fact that most AI-driven drugs are in early stages suggests that more companies are increasingly turning to AI to explore and expand their drug pipelines. This trend also reflects the industry’s growing reliance on AI to enhance R&D productivity. As the industry continues to recognise the potential of AI, this technology is set to become even more essential.”
In a recent GlobalData survey, ‘Digital Transformation and Emerging Technologies in the Healthcare Industry – 2024’, 82% believed the drug development timeline could be either significantly or moderately shortened with the help of digital transformation.
