Isomorphic Labs Inks Pact with Novartis For Small Molecule Therapeutics

Isomorphic Labs, a digital biology firm on a goal to transform drug discovery through the use of artificial intelligence, announced a strategic research cooperation with Novartis to identify small molecule therapies against three undisclosed targets.

"Isomorphic Labs and Novartis hold a shared purpose to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people's lives," said Demis Hassabis, CEO and founder of Isomorphic Labs. "We are delighted to embark upon this integrated way of working, bringing Isomorphic's state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and technology platform, including the next-generation AlphaFold model, and access to massive computing power to Novartis, an established leader in the creation of innovative medicines."

"Cutting-edge AI technologies such as AlphaFold hold the potential to transform how we discover new drugs and accelerate our ability to deliver life-changing medicines for patients," said Fiona Marshall, President of Biomedical Research at Novartis. "This collaboration harnesses our companies' unique strengths, from AI and data science to medicinal chemistry and deep disease area expertise, to realize new possibilities in AI-driven drug discovery. We are thrilled to explore uncharted frontiers together with the Isomorphic team."

Isomorphic Labs operates autonomously within Alphabet, with its own dedicated resources and exclusive focus on the application of AI to drug discovery. The company is reimagining the entire drug discovery process from first principles with an AI-first approach, working to build powerful new predictive and generative models of biological phenomena to anticipate how drugs will perform and design novel molecules, as per pharmabiz.

Building on the success of AlphaFold and collaborating with GoogleDeepMind, Isomorphic Labs has made significant progress in building the Next Generation of AlphaFold. This new version of AlphaFold goes beyond proteins to incorporate tiny molecules and nucleic acids.