Fujitsu launches drug discovery platform to accelerate medicines to market

Japanese technology company Fujitsu has partnered with biotechnology company Polaris^qb  to test a new drug discovery platform designed to help pharmaceutical companies accelerate medicines to market.

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Drug Discovery

The new platform combines quantum-inspired technology, machine learning, and hybrid quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics simulations (QM/MM) to scan and identify lead de novo molecules needed to develop drugs. The initial focus of the platform will be to identify a cure for dengue fever.

Dengue fever is thought to affect around 100 million people every year and is responsible for 22,000 deaths. With no cure available, Fujitsu and Polaris^qb prioritised the virus as a key target of their new drug discovery platform.

The Digital Annealer platform by Fujitsu is able to scan billions of molecules for drug discovery, cutting the time it takes to identify lead molecules and reach the first stages of drug development to just eight months – a process that usually takes two to four years.

After lead molecules are identified, Polaris^qb’s proprietary machine-learning algorithm and QM/MM simulations then quickly assess whether the molecules possess all the properties that a drug requires to be brought to market.

Patrick Stephenson, director of Innovation & Healthcare at Fujitsu UK, said: “Fujitsu’s quantum-inspired Digital Annealer is a truly pioneering technology, and I am excited about the impact it will have on improving the drug discovery process together with our partner Polaris^qb. We are looking forward to scaling this platform to tackle many more diseases in the future, enabling new drugs to be brought to patients faster and more cost-effectively.”

Dr Shahar Keinan, CEO at Polaris^qb, said: "Polaris^qb is excited to be co-creating this novel platform that can revolutionise drug design. We believe drug development has reached an inflection point, and that leveraging advances in quantum-inspired computing will dramatically increase the speed of computation and diversity of candidate molecules, answering clear needs in the market."

Fujitsu and Polaris^qb hope to make available the new lead molecules for a dengue fever drug to partners by May 2020.