THE ESSENTIALS IN 30 SECONDS

  • Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed sources, that Isomorphic Labs is in talks to raise about $5 billion at a valuation near $50 billion; terms are not final.
  • The company announced a $2.1 billion Series B led by Thrive Capital on May 12, 2026.
  • Isomorphic has pharma deals with Eli Lilly, Novartis and Johnson & Johnson but has not yet put its own drug candidate into human trials.

Isomorphic Labs, the drug-discovery company Alphabet spun out of Google DeepMind in 2021, is in talks to raise about $5 billion at a valuation of roughly $50 billion, Bloomberg reported on November 4, citing people familiar with the matter. Secondary coverage of the report says the discussions are at an early stage, that terms could still change and that the investors involved have not been named. Isomorphic has not commented publicly on the report.

A fast step up from the Series B

The company, led by DeepMind chief executive Demis Hassabis, announced a $2.1 billion Series B on May 12, 2026. According to its own announcement, Thrive Capital led that round, with existing backers Alphabet and GV joined by MGX, Temasek, CapitalG and the UK Sovereign AI Fund. Isomorphic said the money would fund its AI drug design engine, international expansion and its pipeline of drug candidates. It did not disclose a valuation then, so the size of any increase cannot be measured precisely.

Trending Topics notes that Bloomberg had reported in early October on talks at a valuation of at least $40 billion. Tech Funding News calculates that, together with a $600 million first external round in 2025, a completed $5 billion raise would bring Isomorphic's outside funding to about $7.7 billion.

Partnerships, but no human trials yet

Isomorphic builds on AlphaFold, the protein-structure model for which Hassabis received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and on its in-house platform IsoDDE. Its own programmes focus on oncology and immune disorders. It signed partnerships with Eli Lilly and Novartis in early 2024, worth up to $1.7 billion and $1.2 billion respectively in milestone payments that depend on development progress, and added Johnson & Johnson as a partner in January 2026.

The central caveat, highlighted in Bloomberg's report, is that none of the company's own drug candidates has yet been tested in people. Hassabis had said AI-designed drugs would reach clinical trials by the end of 2025, then pushed that target to the end of 2026, according to Trending Topics.

What to watch

A valuation of this size would put Isomorphic far ahead of other AI drug-discovery startups; Tech Funding News points to Chai Discovery's $3.8 billion valuation in July. Investors are effectively paying for the platform and partnerships before clinical proof. Whether the round closes on these terms, and whether a first trial starts on schedule, are the next markers to follow.