Isomorphic Labs Rethinks Drug Discovery With AI

Isomorphic Labs is reimagining the drug discovery process with an AI-first approach. At the heart of this work is a new way of thinking about biology.

Max Jaderberg, chief AI officer, and Sergei Yakneen, chief technology officer at Isomorphic Labs joined the AI Podcast to explain why they look at biology as an information processing system.

“We’re building generalizable AI models capable of learning from the entire universe of protein and chemical interactions,” Jaderberg said. “This fundamentally breaks from the target-specific, siloed approach of conventional drug development.”

Isomorphic isn’t just working to optimize existing drug design workflows but completely rethinking how drugs are discovered — moving away from traditional methods that have historically been slow and inefficient.

By modeling cellular processes with AI, Isomorphic’s teams can predict molecular interactions with exceptional accuracy. Their advanced AI models enable scientists to computationally simulate how potential therapeutics interact with their targets in complex biological systems. Using AI to reduce dependence on wet lab experiments accelerates the drug discovery pipeline and creates possibilities for addressing previously untreatable conditions.

And that’s just the beginning.

Isomorphic Labs envisions a future of precision medicine, where treatments are tailored to an individual’s unique molecular and genetic makeup. While regulatory hurdles and technical challenges remain, Jaderberg and Yakneen are optimistic and devoted to balancing ambitious innovation with scientific rigor.

“We’re committed to proving our technology through real-world pharmaceutical breakthroughs,” said Jaderberg.

Time Stamps

1:14 – How AI is boosting the drug discovery process.

17:25 – Biology as a computational system.

19:50 – Applications of AlphaFold 3 in pharmaceutical research.

23:05 – The future of precision and preventative medicine.

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