J&J bets on Isomorphic for AI-powered drug hunt
Sarah Skerrat, Isomorphic's chief research officer.
Alphabet-backed start-up Isomorphic Labs has added another name to the roster of pharma companies tapping into its AI-based drug discovery engine.
Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Biotech unit is the latest to sign up, agreeing a "cross-modality, multi-target research collaboration" with Isomorphic that will combine its design engine with J&J's expertise in drug development.
Other companies that have partnered with the London, UK-based start-up include Eli Lilly and Novartis, which have together pledged almost $3 billion to projects powered by Isomorphic's platform.
While those two projects focused mainly on small-molecule therapeutics, with J&J, Isomorphic is also working on large-molecule and biologics design.
Under the terms of the J&J deal, Isomorphic will be responsible for in silico predictions and design, while the US group will conduct experimental assays and assume responsibility for advancing programmes through development. The financial terms and the therapeutic categories covered by the alliance have not been disclosed.
"This collaboration is about more than speed; it is about unlocking uncharted frontiers in biology," said Sarah Skerrat, Isomorphic's chief research officer.
"By accessing Isomorphic's planet-scale computing power and unified AI-driven drug design engine, the partnership will tackle targets that have historically been difficult to drug," she added.
Last year, the UK company – led by DeepMind founder Sir Demis Hassabis – raised a massive $600 million in its first external financing round, which was led by Thrive Capital, with participation from Google's GV venture capital unit as well as Alphabet.
Isomorphic was set up in 2021 to develop DeepMind's AlphaFold engine that, in 2020, became the first to solve the tricky problem of predicting protein folding. Now in its third iteration, the model can predict the structure and relationships not only of proteins, but "all of life's molecules," according to the company.
Max Jederberg, who recently transitioned from chief AI officer to president of Isomorphic, said in a LinkedIn post that the partnership "reflects our belief that AI can truly transform human health, and I'm excited to see our teams join forces to move these breakthroughs forwards for patients."
