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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Google DeepMind has grand ambitions to ‘cure all diseases' with AI. Now, it's gearing up for its first human trials
Alphabet's Isomorphic Labs is preparing to launch human trials of AI-designed drugs, its president, Colin Murdoch, told Fortune. Born from DeepMind's AlphaFold breakthrough, the company is pairing cutting-edge AI with pharma veterans to design medicines faster, cheaper, and more accurately. Alphabet's secretive drug discovery arm, Isomorphic Labs, is getting ready to start testing its AI-designed drugs in humans, Colin Murdoch, Isomorphic Labs president and Google DeepMind's chief business officer, told Fortune. 'There are people sitting in our office in King's Cross, London, working, and collaborating with AI to design drugs for cancer,' Murdoch said during an interview in Paris. 'That's happening right now.' After years in development, Murdoch says human clinical trials for Isomorphic's AI-assisted drugs are finally in sight. 'The next big milestone is actually going out to clinical trials, starting to put these things into human beings,' he said. 'We're staffing up now. We're getting very close.' The company, which was spun out of DeepMind in 2021, was born from one of DeepMind's most celebrated breakthroughs, AlphaFold, an AI system capable of predicting protein structures with a high level of accuracy. Interactions of AlphaFold progressed from being able to accurately predict individual protein structures to modeling how proteins interact with other molecules like DNA and drugs. These leaps made it far more useful for drug discovery, helping researchers design medicines faster and more precisely, turning the tool into a launchpad for a much larger ambition. 'This was the inspiration for Isomorphic Labs,' Murdoch said of AlphaFold. 'It really demonstrates that we could do something very foundational in AI that could help unlock drug discovery.' In 2024, the same year it released AlphaFold 3, Isomorphic signed major research collaborations with pharma companies Novartis and Eli Lilly. A year later, in April 2025, Isomorphic Labs raised $600 million in its first-ever external funding round, led by Thrive Capital. The deals are part of Isomorphic's plan to build a 'world-class drug design engine,' a system that combines machine learning researchers with pharma veterans to design new medicines faster, more cheaply, and with a higher chance of success. As part of the deals with major pharma players, Isomorphic supports existing drug programs, but it also designs its own internal drug candidates in areas such as oncology and immunology, with the aim of eventually licensing them out after early-stage trials. 'We identify an unmet need, and we start our own drug design programs. We develop those, put them into human clinical trials… we haven't got that yet, but we're making good progress,' he said. Today, pharma companies often spend millions attempting to bring a single drug to market, sometimes with just a 10% chance of success once trials begin. Murdoch believes Isomorphic's tech could radically improve those odds. 'We're trying to do all these things: speed them up, reduce the cost, but also really improve the chance that we can be successful,' he says. He wants to harness AlphaFold's technology to get to a point where researchers have 100% conviction that the drugs they are developing are going to work in human trials. 'One day we hope to be able to say — well, here's a disease, and then click a button and out pops the design for a drug to address that disease,' Murdoch said. 'All powered by these amazing AI tools.' This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
OPEC's New Supply Shock Locks In Oil Market's Return to Surplus
(Bloomberg) -- The latest oil supply shockwave unleashed by OPEC+ is set to swell a surplus later this year, pressuring prices for producers the world over while answering US President Donald Trump's calls for lower fuel costs. Foreign Buyers Swoop on Cape Town Homes, Pricing Out Locals Trump's Gilded Design Style May Be Gaudy. But Don't Call it 'Rococo.' Massachusetts to Follow NYC in Making Landlords Pay Broker Fees NYC Commutes Resume After Midtown Bus Terminal Crash Chaos What Gothenburg Got Out of Congestion Pricing OPEC and its allies have reason to believe the surge will find buyers, at least in the short-term, and price hikes by group leader Saudi Arabia following the decision symbolize that confidence. But even before Saturday's surprise move — taken after just 10 minutes on a video conference call — global oil markets already seemed to be on borrowed time before the arrival of a winter glut. 'For now, the oil market remains tight, suggesting it can absorb additional barrels,' said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS AG in Zurich. 'But there are rising risks like ongoing trade tensions, implying that the market could look less tight over the coming 6-12 months, which would pose downside risks to prices.' On Saturday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners blindsided energy traders by announcing that they would further speed up a revival in collective oil production next month. The move offers cheer for consumers and a win for Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to cut fuel costs. It also threatens pain for producers, from America's shale heartlands to OPEC's own members. Still, Riyadh seems undaunted. On Sunday, state-run Saudi Aramco hiked the premiums it charges for its flagship crude to customers in its key Asian market by more than traders had anticipated. Those don't look like the actions of a producer that's anxious about demand. OPEC+ officials said that summer demand was one reason for their optimism. US crude inventories are sliding in the key storage hub of Cushing, oil-pricing spreads don't suggest a surplus now, and America's stockpile of diesel has collapsed. Supply Trajectory Fuel demand also peaks in the northern hemisphere summer, giving the group a window to speed up its broader strategy of reclaiming the market share relinquished in recent years to rivals like US shale drillers. Saturday's decision nevertheless shifts the trajectory of global supply. While OPEC projects the extra barrels are needed to meet demand even through December, other forecasters are skeptical. Even before the additions were announced, the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based adviser to major economies, was predicting a surplus equal to about 1.5% of global consumption in the fourth quarter. Oil futures slumped 11% over the past two weeks in London, quickly shrugging off the Israel-Iran conflict and suggesting traders are not convinced extra barrels are vital. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have been predicting a further slide towards $60 this year as Chinese consumption falters and Trump's trade tariffs cast a shadow across the global economy. Broad Support Eight of the alliance's key members decided during Saturday's video-conference to restore 548,000 barrels a day of halted output in August. It's a marked step-up from the 411,000-barrel hikes set for May, June and July, which were already triple the volume initially scheduled for those months. OPEC+ will consider another 548,000-barrel tranche for September at a meeting on Aug. 3, a step that would complete the reversal of a 2.2 million-barrel cutback — made back in 2023 — a year earlier than previously envisioned. The actual supply impact on oil markets will likely be smaller than advertised, as Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman pressures countries that previously exceeded their production quotas to forego their share of the hikes. Russia and Iraq are showing some signs of compensation, though Kazakhstan continues to cheat. 'The official return of barrels is one thing, but actual new supply versus the headline numbers is another,' said Doug King, chief executive officer of RCMA Capital LLP. 'Diesel premiums are showing the market undersupply. So unless we see physical weakness via visible inventory increases, I don't see a path lower for crude prices.' Officials also stress that the supply additions can be 'paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions.' But unless they exercise that option, the extra barrels already rubber-stamped will almost inevitably deepen a slide in prices. That would likely mollify President Trump's repeated calls for cheaper fuel costs to staunch the cost-of-living crisis that hurt his predecessor. Trump also has to fend off inflation while lining up a raft of tariffs, and agitating the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Yet the rout will take a toll on America's oil industry, from corporate giants like Exxon Mobil Corp., to the shale explorers who widely backed Trump's bid to reclaim the White House. Shale executives said in a recent survey they expect to drill significantly fewer wells this year than planned at the start of 2025 as prices falter. And the pain may well ripple through OPEC+ itself. Saudi Arabia needs more than $90 a barrel to cover government spending, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman embarks on a radical plan to transform the desert kingdom's economy, according to the International Monetary Fund. Riyadh is grappling with a soaring budget deficit, and has been forced to slash spending on some of the prince's flagship projects. If Riyadh tires of the financial strain, it could opt to pull supplies back off the market again. 'They do have the option of a volte-face,' said Neil Atkinson, an independent analyst and former head of the IEA's oil markets and industry division. But in the meantime, 'there's no alternative but to ensure market share and accept lower prices. You might as well accept the world for what it is, which is what they're doing.' --With assistance from Salma El Wardany, Fiona MacDonald and Nayla Razzouk. For Brazil's Criminals, Coffee Beans Are the Target SNAP Cuts in Big Tax Bill Will Hit a Lot of Trump Voters Too Sperm Freezing Is a New Hot Market for Startups Pistachios Are Everywhere Right Now, Not Just in Dubai Chocolate China's Homegrown Jewelry Superstar ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. 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Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Oil Market Heading For Surplus In 2025 On Latest OPEC+ Output Hike
An oil storage facility in Groot-Ammers, The Netherlands. The global oil market is likely heading for a surplus this year following a higher than expected production hike by OPEC+ over the weekend. At their meeting on Saturday, eight members of OPEC+, a select group of Russia-led oil producers and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, opted to raise collective production levels for August by another 548,000 barrels per day. Producers Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman cited 'healthy oil market fundamentals and steady global economic outlook' as the reasons behind the move indicating their belief that the global oil market can absorb the additional supply. The move, which took the market by surprise, came after three consecutive output hikes of 411,000 bpd announced by OPEC+ in recent months. The series of hikes are part of the producers' group's attempt to unwind 2.2 million bpd of previously agreed cuts since 2022. The latest hike implies 1.92 million bpd or over 87% of those cuts have now been unwound. As in previous instances, OPEC+ said: 'The gradual increases may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions. This flexibility will allow the group to continue to support oil market stability.' An Oil Market Surplus Is Imminent For all intents and purposes, the volume of the hike is an oversized one demonstrative of OPEC's intention of putting more barrels on the market for a greater market share. The hope is that summer demand in the Northern hemisphere would absorb the additional barrels. However, the only issue that non-OPEC production is up at a record breaking pace led by the U.S., currently the world's largest oil producer. According to the Energy Information Administration - statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy - in April, the nation's crude production came in at an all-time high of 13.47 million bpd, breaking a previous record of 13.45 million bpd set in October 2024. The ranks of non-OPEC producers are also being boosted by higher output from Brazil, Canada, Guyana and Norway. Collectively, non-OPEC production growth is likely to rise by 1.4 million bpd, according to the International Energy Agency. Notwithstanding any additional OPEC+ barrels, such levels of non-OPEC growth alone are more than sufficient to account for global demand growth projections for this year that have been put forward by various forecasters. These range from 0.72 million bpd to 1.3 million bpd, with IEA and OPEC being at the opposite ends of that range. With additional barrels flowing in from all corners, there are fears the oil market may end up with a surplus of as much as 500,000 to 600,000 bpd, perhaps even more. As it becomes pretty apparent that OPEC+ now wants to take the fight to non-OPEC producers in a bid for market share, oil prices will likely head lower. Back in May, prior to the escalation of tensions in the Middle East the following month, Goldman Sachs was predicting sub-$60 average oil prices - $56 for Brent and $52 for U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate - as they head lower in the second half of the year. It was part of a rising number of its peers lining up to trim their price predictions for 2025-26 down to the $60s or below. Barring a major geopolitical escalation or macroeconomic event, OPEC+ has brought that world a lot closer with its latest hike.
