Isomorphic Labs and Johnson & Johnson Partner on AI-Driven, Multi-Modality Drug Discovery
Isomorphic Labs has announced a cross-modality research collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, aimed at integrating its AI-based drug design engine with Johnson & Johnson’s experimental and clinical development infrastructure. The deal involves multi-target discovery work across modalities such as small molecules, biologics, peptides, and molecular glues.
Under the partnership structure, Isomorphic Labs will handle in silico compound design and prediction using its AI-first platform, while Johnson & Johnson (through its legal entity Janssen Biotech, Inc.) will lead experimental validation and further development. The collaboration is positioned to focus on historically hard-to-drug targets by leveraging Isomorphic’s generative and predictive models built on planet-scale compute and foundational technologies like AlphaFold 3.
The alliance follows recent moves by Isomorphic Labs to expand internal capabilities and external partnerships around its unified AI design framework. In April 2025, Isomorphic Labs raised $600 million in its first external funding round, led by Thrive Capital, to support its transition from AI-driven design to clinical development.
The company, founded by Alphabet in 2021 to commercialize DeepMind’s AI capabilities for drug discovery, is advancing its internal pipeline with plans to initiate human trials for AI-designed drugs. President Colin Murdoch confirmed that candidate programs in areas such as oncology and immunology are being prepared for clinical entry, with in-house teams combining machine learning researchers and pharma veterans.
The company’s work builds on AlphaFold 3, a model developed with DeepMind that predicts the 3D structure of biomolecular complexes, and follows a Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded in 2024 to Hassabis and DeepMind researcher John Jumper for their protein structure prediction research via AlphaFold 2. Isomorphic Labs maintains offices in London, Lausanne, and Cambridge, MA, where it established a U.S. hub in mid-2025 and appointed Dr. Ben Wolf as Chief Medical Officer to lead clinical translation efforts for its AI-designed compounds.
Earlier, Isomorphic Labs had already signed large, multi-target deals with Eli Lilly and Novartis worth nearly $3B in combined biobucks (upfronts plus milestones), positioning AI-generated candidates inside big-pharma discovery infrastructures. The collaboration with Novartis was expanded in February 2025 and added up to three additional research programs following progress on the initial set.
Topic: Industry Movers
