The Salience of Alpha Fold-3

Google DeepMind has upgraded its model. Again.

Hello Everyone,

I find it hard for me to fully grasp the importance of AlphaFold-3 relative to all else that is going on, so I decided to take take a closer look.

According to the PR, the system, AlphaFold3, could accelerate efforts to understand the human body and fight disease. DeepMind has a history of taking credit for things it did not itself achieve in full, and such is the case with Isomorphic Labs and their role in all of this, I’d wager.

You see, back in January, 2024, Isomorphic Labs signed a partnership and specifically discovery deals with Eli Lilly and Novartis. Isomorphic Labs is a DeepMind spin out, like so many other Generative AI startups these days with former GDM or Google Brain talent, it’s been more of an incubation research lab, than anything significant directly for Google. The list of the startups who “used to work at Google” has now become in 2024, too long to name.

How Google Partners with Big Pharma

The deals of Isomorphic Labs and these Pharma heavyweights are said to have a combined value of close to $3 billion. The startup will receive upfront payment of $45 million from Eli Lilly, with as much as $1.7 billion to be paid according to performance-based milestones. As for Novartis, it has agreed to pay $37.5 million upfront, and an additional $1.2 billion in additional incentives going forward.

What is AlphaFold 3?

AlphaFold 3, a new AI model developed by Isomorphic Labs and Google DeepMind. By accurately predicting the structure of proteins, DNA, RNA, ligands and more, and how they interact, we hope it will help to transform our understanding of the biological world and drug discovery.

• On On Wednesday, May 8th, 2024 Google DeepMind, the tech giant’s central artificial intelligence lab, and Isomorphic Labs, a sister company, unveiled a more powerful version of AlphaFold, an artificial intelligence technology that helps scientists understand the behavior of the microscopic mechanisms that drive the cells in the human body.

Will BigTech Swallow BigPharma?

By predicting how proteins interact with RNA and DNA, AlphaFold 3 could dramatically accelerate discovery of new drugs, better antibiotics, more effective vaccines.

It’s not clear how all of this will play out.