Isomorphic signs $3B in AI drug discovery pacts with Lilly, Novartis

2024-01-07

引进/卖出

Alphabet's artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Isomorphic Labs has nabbed a pair of drug discovery deals with Eli Lilly and Novartis worth close to $3 billion. The announcement Sunday, coming ahead of the JP Morgan healthcare conference that kicks off January 8 in San Francisco, marks the company's first pharmaceutical partnerships.

Alphabet launched Isomorphic Labs in 2021 to build on Google DeepMind's AlphaFold 2 AI technology that can be used to predict the structure of proteins in the human body, and ultimately help scientists identify new target pathways to deliver drugs for fighting disease. The latest version of AlphaFold extends its application to small molecules and nucleic acids. Researchers last year reported on the use of AlphaFold to design and create a potential CDK20 inhibitor CDK20 inhibitor to treat hepatocellular carcinoma.

In December 2022, sources revealed that Isomorphic was holding talks with unnamed major pharmaceutical companies and expected to announce a deal in the following months, according to a report at the time.

The new collaboration with Eli Lilly, which will focus on discovering small-molecule therapeutics against multiple targets, comes with a $45-million upfront payment. Isomorphic is also eligible for up to $1.7 billion in performance-based milestones, as well as royalties of up to low-double digits on net sales.

"We're thrilled to embark on this partnership and apply our proprietary technology platform, the next generation of AlphaFold, and access to massive computing power to Lilly's development programmes," said Isomorphic CEO Demis Hassabis.

The Novartis alliance centres on uncovering small-molecule therapeutics against three undisclosed targets. The Swiss drugmaker will pay the start-up $37.5 million upfront as well as select research costs. Isomorphic could also pocket another $1.2 billion in performance-based milestone payments, plus subsequent mid-single up to low double-digit royalties on net sales.

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