Scientists Call DeepMind Drug Spin-off's Exclusive New AI 'An AlphaFold 4'

The Next AlphaFold?

Isomorphic Labs, the AI drug discovery company spun out of Google DeepMind in 2021, has revealed a powerful new AI system for drug development. Scientists who have seen the system are calling it "an AlphaFold 4" — a reference to AlphaFold's landmark impact on protein structure prediction, suggesting this new AI could have a similarly transformative effect on drug discovery.

What Isomorphic Labs Does

Just as AlphaFold 2 effectively "solved" protein folding — predicting the 3D structure of proteins from their amino acid sequences — Isomorphic Labs has been working to predict how drug molecules interact with protein targets in the body. This is a critical step in drug development: understanding binding affinity and molecular behavior can dramatically narrow down candidate compounds from billions to thousands.

Capabilities

The newly revealed AI reportedly demonstrates unprecedented accuracy in predicting how small molecules bind to biological targets. Researchers indicate it could substantially accelerate the hit-to-lead and lead optimization stages of drug development, processes that traditionally take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Exclusive Access Controversy

The system is reportedly available only through Isomorphic Labs' exclusive pharmaceutical partnerships, sparking criticism from the scientific community. Many researchers are calling for open access or an open-source version — echoing debates that followed AlphaFold's release about proprietary control of foundational scientific tools.