Isomorphic Labs

Eli Lilly invested $40 million in Absci, an AI-driven drug company developing ABS-201, an injectable antibody targeting androgenetic alopecia and endometriosis. The investment coincided with Absci releasing positive Phase 1 safety data, and both companies aim to leverage direct-to-consumer strategies and AI-designed drugs to disrupt the injectable market.

Google I/O keynote highlighted tension between two AI approaches for science: specialized tools like WeatherNext for specific problems versus autonomous AI agents that could conduct research independently. While Google continues developing specialized AI tools like AlphaFold that are widely used by researchers, the company is moving toward agentic LLM-based systems that could eventually perform cutting-edge science without human involvement.

SandboxAQ is bringing its drug discovery models to Claude, aiming to increase accessibility without requiring a PhD in computing. This move comes as other venture-backed companies like Chai Discovery and Isomorphic Labs are also working on building better models. SandboxAQ believes that access is a bigger obstacle and that Claude can solve it.

Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google's DeepMind, has raised significant funding for Isomorphic Labs, a startup aiming to use AI for accelerated drug creation. The goal is to leverage AI in the development of new drugs. This initiative marks a notable effort in applying AI to the pharmaceutical industry.

A DeepMind spinoff, Isomorphic Labs, is moving AI-designed drugs into human trials. The company's president, Max Jaderberg, highlighted an 'exciting pipeline of new medicines' at WIRED Health in London.