Larry Page and Vas Narasimhan do not have a publicly documented direct personal or business partnership. Their clearest verifiable connection is institutional: Alphabet, the technology company Page co-founded and still serves as a director, backs Isomorphic Labs, an AI drug-discovery company that has a major research partnership with Novartis, where Narasimhan has been CEO since 2018.
That distinction matters. Describing Page and Narasimhan themselves as partners would go beyond the available evidence. The documented relationship runs through Alphabet → Isomorphic Labs → Novartis, with Isomorphic Labs and Novartis scientists working together on AI-assisted drug discovery.
Who Are Larry Page and Vas Narasimhan?
Larry Page and Vas Narasimhan built their careers in very different industries. Page helped create one of the world’s most influential technology companies, while Narasimhan trained as a physician and rose through pharmaceutical research and development before taking charge of Novartis.
| Person | Main field | Current documented role | Relevant connection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Page | Technology and AI | Alphabet co-founder and director | Alphabet is an investor in Isomorphic Labs |
| Vas Narasimhan | Pharmaceuticals and medicine | CEO of Novartis | Novartis works with Isomorphic Labs on AI drug discovery |
| Isomorphic Labs | AI and computational biology | AI-first drug-design company | Connects the Alphabet ecosystem with Novartis |
Alphabet’s 2026 proxy statement lists Page as a co-founder and director. It states that he served as Google CEO from 2011 to 2015 and Alphabet CEO from 2015 until December 2019. Sundar Pichai now runs Alphabet and Google, meaning Page should not be described as the executive directly managing Alphabet’s current pharmaceutical collaborations.
Narasimhan remains much more directly involved in the operating side of the relationship. Novartis identifies him as CEO since 2018, and in July 2026 he publicly said he intended to continue leading the company through its next phase of growth and AI transformation.
What Is the Larry Page and Vas Narasimhan Connection?
The connection begins with Isomorphic Labs, an AI-first drug-discovery company created from work associated with DeepMind and AlphaFold. Isomorphic Labs said in its original Novartis partnership announcement that it operates autonomously within Alphabet and uses artificial intelligence to model biology and design potential medicines.
Alphabet itself continues to describe Isomorphic Labs as part of its push into AI-driven science. In its 2025 annual filing, Alphabet said Isomorphic Labs is applying AI to accelerate the development of new medicines.
That gives Page an indirect connection because he remains an Alphabet director and co-founder. It does not, however, establish that Page negotiated, manages, or personally participates in the Novartis collaboration.
The relationship in simple terms
Larry Page → Alphabet → Isomorphic Labs → Novartis → Vas Narasimhan
The chain is real. A direct Page-Narasimhan partnership has not been publicly established.
How Novartis and Isomorphic Labs Became Partners
The institutional link became significant in January 2024, when Isomorphic Labs announced a strategic research collaboration with Novartis.
The companies agreed to work on small-molecule therapeutics against three undisclosed drug targets. Isomorphic Labs was due to receive a $37.5 million upfront payment, Novartis funding for certain research expenses, and eligibility for as much as $1.2 billion in performance-based milestone payments, excluding possible royalties.
The work combined several capabilities:
- Isomorphic Labs’ artificial-intelligence models
- technology related to AlphaFold
- large-scale computing
- Novartis medicinal chemistry expertise
- Novartis disease biology and pharmaceutical-development experience
The companies did not publicly disclose the three original biological targets. That is common in early-stage pharmaceutical research, where competitive and intellectual-property considerations can keep targets confidential.
Why the Partnership Matters to Vas Narasimhan
For Narasimhan, the Isomorphic Labs relationship fits into a much broader effort to make AI part of how Novartis discovers and develops medicines.
During Novartis’ third-quarter 2024 investor discussion, Narasimhan described Isomorphic Labs as the company’s primary AI collaboration in this area. He explained that Novartis was working with the team on novel targets and generating drug “hits and leads” that could later move further through development.
That wording is important. AI is not simply being used at Novartis for administrative tasks or general productivity. One of its intended roles is directly within the scientific process of identifying and designing potential medicines.
Novartis has also said that AI is being applied across areas including disease understanding, molecular design, predictive safety, trial design, clinical operations and document generation.
The Partnership Expanded in 2025
The collaboration did not remain limited to its initial three programs.
On February 18, 2025, Isomorphic Labs announced that Novartis had agreed to expand the relationship by adding up to three additional research programs. The company said the expansion followed progress made during the first year of the partnership.
Isomorphic Labs’ current partnerships page says the original work focused on three particularly challenging targets and that the expanded agreement added the possibility of three more programs.
That development provides stronger evidence that the relationship is a sustained research collaboration rather than a short experimental project.
Where Larry Page Fits Into the Picture
Page’s role requires more careful interpretation.
He is one of Google’s founders and helped create Alphabet’s holding-company structure, but he has not been Alphabet’s CEO since December 2019. Alphabet’s April 2026 proxy continued to identify him as a co-founder and director, including service on its Executive Committee.
The publicly announced Novartis deal, meanwhile, has been associated operationally with Demis Hassabis, the founder and CEO of Isomorphic Labs, and Novartis research leadership. The 2024 announcement quoted Hassabis and Fiona Marshall, President of Biomedical Research at Novartis, rather than Page.
So the most accurate description is that Page sits at the founder and governance level of the broader Alphabet ecosystem in which Isomorphic Labs operates. There is no reliable public evidence showing him personally running the Novartis relationship.
Also Read: Cliff Asness and Vas Narasimhan | What Connects Them?
Is Isomorphic Labs Still Connected to Alphabet?
Yes. The connection remained visible in 2026.
In May 2026, Isomorphic Labs announced a $2.1 billion Series B funding round led by Thrive Capital. Alphabet and GV were identified as existing investors participating in the financing, alongside investors including MGX, Temasek, CapitalG and the UK Sovereign AI Fund.
The financing was intended to expand Isomorphic Labs’ AI drug-design engine and move its own therapeutic programs toward clinical development.
This strengthens the significance of the Alphabet-Novartis bridge, but again it should not be interpreted as evidence of a personal financial deal between Page and Narasimhan.
What Is Isomorphic Labs Actually Doing for Novartis?
Traditional drug discovery can require scientists to test enormous numbers of possible molecules before identifying candidates capable of affecting a biological target.
AI-based systems attempt to narrow that search.
Isomorphic Labs builds predictive and generative models intended to understand biological structures, molecular interactions and potential drug designs computationally. Its technology grew from advances surrounding AlphaFold, the protein-structure prediction system developed at DeepMind.
For Novartis, the practical goal is not simply to ask AI to “invent a medicine.” Researchers can instead use computational models to identify promising molecular structures and interactions earlier, then subject the resulting candidates to laboratory studies, preclinical testing and, where appropriate, clinical trials.
AI can therefore help scientists decide which experiments are most worth running, potentially reducing portions of the search process. It does not remove the need for experimental validation, safety testing or regulatory review.
Narasimhan’s Broader Move Into Artificial Intelligence
Narasimhan’s interest in AI now extends beyond Novartis’ relationship with the Alphabet ecosystem.
In April 2026, Anthropic’s Long-Term Benefit Trust appointed him to Anthropic’s board of directors. Anthropic said his pharmaceutical experience was relevant because healthcare and life sciences are areas where advanced AI could have substantial impact.
Novartis’ official biography now lists Narasimhan as an Anthropic board member as well.
The appointment illustrates a wider convergence between pharmaceutical leadership and frontier AI companies. Narasimhan is increasingly operating at that intersection, even though his primary executive responsibility remains Novartis.
Larry Page’s Background in Technology and Long-Term Research
Lawrence “Larry” Page co-founded Google with Sergey Brin after the two met while studying computer science at Stanford University. Google’s early development grew from their work on organizing and ranking information across the web.
Page later helped reorganize Google under Alphabet, creating a structure in which projects outside Google’s traditional internet businesses could operate with greater independence.
That structure is relevant to the Narasimhan connection because Alphabet today supports projects well beyond internet search. Its 2025 annual report highlights work in autonomous driving through Waymo and AI-assisted medicine through Isomorphic Labs, among other long-term initiatives.
Isomorphic Labs therefore reflects the type of ambitious scientific project that Alphabet’s diversified structure was designed to accommodate.
Vas Narasimhan’s Background in Medicine
Vasant “Vas” Narasimhan took a substantially different path.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of Chicago, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He joined Novartis in 2005 and later held senior roles including Global Head of Development for Novartis Vaccines and Global Head of Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer.
He became CEO in 2018.
Under Narasimhan, Novartis has concentrated its pharmaceutical business around innovative medicines and technology platforms including small interfering RNA, radioligand therapy, cell and gene therapies and advanced data science. Novartis says its medicines reached more than 300 million patients in 2025.
Why Searches for Larry Page and Vas Narasimhan Are Increasingly Relevant
The two executives represent industries that were once relatively separate.
Page’s career represents computing, internet-scale data and artificial intelligence. Narasimhan’s represents medicine, biology and pharmaceutical development.
AI-driven drug discovery is bringing those worlds closer together.
Isomorphic Labs is one of the clearest examples. Alphabet brings sophisticated machine-learning capabilities, while pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis contribute disease knowledge, chemical expertise, experimental infrastructure and the ability to develop candidate medicines through clinical trials.
That is the substantive story behind the Larry Page and Vas Narasimhan search. It is less about a documented personal relationship and more about the increasing convergence of Big Tech, artificial intelligence and drug development.
Is There Evidence Larry Page and Vas Narasimhan Work Together Personally?
Based on current public disclosures, there is no verified evidence of a direct Page-Narasimhan business partnership, joint investment, board relationship or jointly managed project.
The strongest documented connection remains the Novartis-Isomorphic Labs collaboration. Page is connected to Alphabet at the founder and board level, while Narasimhan directly leads Novartis.
Readers should therefore be cautious with pages or social-media posts that describe the two men as personal partners unless they provide additional primary-source evidence.
What Could Happen Next?
The Novartis-Isomorphic Labs partnership is still a research program, so successful commercial medicines are not guaranteed.
Drug discovery carries substantial scientific risk. A computationally promising molecule still has to demonstrate acceptable properties experimentally, survive preclinical testing, prove safety and efficacy in clinical trials and receive regulatory authorization before it can become an approved treatment.
What can be established is that both sides have deepened their commitment. Novartis expanded the collaboration in 2025, while Isomorphic Labs raised another $2.1 billion in 2026 to expand its technology and therapeutic pipeline.
Whether any specific Novartis-Isomorphic program ultimately produces an approved drug remains unknown.
FAQ
Are Larry Page and Vas Narasimhan business partners?
No direct business partnership between Larry Page and Vas Narasimhan has been publicly documented. Their verified connection is indirect through Alphabet-backed Isomorphic Labs and its strategic drug-discovery collaboration with Novartis.
Does Larry Page own Novartis?
No. Larry Page is a co-founder and director of Alphabet. Novartis is a separate Swiss pharmaceutical company and is not owned by Page or Alphabet.
What does Isomorphic Labs do with Novartis?
Isomorphic Labs and Novartis use AI-driven approaches to discover small-molecule medicines against difficult biological targets. Their initial 2024 agreement involved three undisclosed targets, and the collaboration was expanded in 2025 to include up to three additional research programs.
Is Larry Page still CEO of Alphabet?
No. Page served as Alphabet CEO from 2015 until December 2019. Sundar Pichai is the current CEO, while Page remains an Alphabet co-founder and director.
Is Vas Narasimhan still CEO of Novartis?
Yes. Narasimhan has been CEO since 2018. He said in July 2026 that he intended to continue leading the company through its next phase of growth, including its ongoing AI transformation.
Is Vas Narasimhan involved with other major AI companies?
Yes. In April 2026, he joined Anthropic’s board of directors while remaining CEO of Novartis. Anthropic specifically highlighted his experience developing medicines and operating in a highly regulated industry.
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