Isomorphic Labs unveils proprietary AI drug discovery model IsoDDE

Isomorphic Labs unveils proprietary AI drug discovery model

Isomorphic Labs, the biopharmaceuticals spin-off from Google DeepMind, has announced a new, more powerful artificial-intelligence model for drug discovery called IsoDDE. The company detailed the model's capabilities in a 27-page technical report released on February 10th.

Unlike the publicly accessible AlphaFold systems, IsoDDE is a proprietary tool that Isomorphic Labs will keep for its own use. The technical paper offers little insight into how other researchers could replicate its results.

IsoDDE's capabilities and industry reaction

The new AI model is designed as a comprehensive "drug-discovery engine." Its touted achievements include making precise predictions of how proteins interact with potential therapeutic molecules and accurately modeling antibody structures.

Scientists in the field have been impressed by the reported capabilities. The model represents a significant step beyond the protein-structure prediction that AlphaFold revolutionized, moving directly into the complex arena of drug design and interaction.

A stark departure from AlphaFold's open philosophy

This announcement marks a major strategic shift from the approach taken with AlphaFold. The original AlphaFold and its successor, AlphaFold3, were made broadly accessible to the global scientific community, with detailed methodologies published in peer-reviewed journals like Nature.

The open release of AlphaFold is widely credited with accelerating biological research across countless labs. In contrast, Isomorphic Labs is keeping IsoDDE entirely in-house. The key differences in approach include:

• Access: AlphaFold was released publicly; IsoDDE is proprietary and closed.
• Transparency: AlphaFold's methods were published in scientific journals; IsoDDE's technical report offers minimal implementation details.
• Focus: AlphaFold predicts static protein structures; IsoDDE aims to model dynamic drug-protein interactions.

The commercial logic behind a closed system

Isomorphic Labs' decision reflects the high-stakes, competitive nature of pharmaceutical development. The company, which has partnerships with Eli Lilly and Novartis, is positioning IsoDDE as a core competitive advantage for its own drug pipeline.

By keeping the model proprietary, Isomorphic Labs aims to maintain a lead in identifying and designing new therapeutic compounds. The model is intended to drastically reduce the time and cost associated with early-stage drug discovery.

What IsoDDE means for the future of AI in biology

The development signals a new phase where the most advanced AI tools in biology may become commercial assets rather than public goods. This could create a divide between well-funded corporate labs and academic researchers.

However, the technical report itself confirms the rapid progress in the field. The ability to predict complex molecular interactions with high accuracy was a long-standing challenge following the protein-structure breakthrough.

Isomorphic Labs' work demonstrates that AI models are now tackling the next frontier: not just what a protein looks like, but how it behaves with potential drugs. The closed nature of IsoDDE, however, leaves the broader scientific community to wonder about the specifics of this leap forward.