Kvantify, Atom Computing and Aarhus University Launch Quantum Drug Discovery Project
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Insider Brief Kvantify, Atom Computing, and Aarhus University’s chemistry researchers have launched the EarlyBIRDD project, backed by DKK 30 million from Innovation Fund Denmark, to develop quantum computing methods and software aimed at accelerating drug discovery. The project will focus on improving molecular simulations—particularly predicting drug–protein binding affinity—by co-developing quantum chemistry methods, algorithms, hardware integration, and industry-ready software tools. Researchers say advances from the initiative could significantly reduce pharmaceutical R&D costs and timelines while positioning Denmark’s quantum ecosystem to support future industrial applications of early fault-tolerant quantum computers. Photo by GUY GRANDJEAN on Unsplash PRESS RELEASE — Kvantify, Atom Computing, and AU Chemistry join forces to make the innovations needed for quantum computing to solve outstanding challenges. The research and innovation project will accelerate the technological impact in drug discovery.
Innovation Fund Denmark invests DKK 30 million in the project. Pharmaceuticals are central for global health and economy, but the industry is challenged by success rates, timelines of 10-15 years, and on average more than DKK 15bn spendings for the development of a single new medicine. Simulations of molecular processes are at the heart of drug discovery, and innovation into novel methods with improved accuracy are of utmost importance for overcoming the challenges. “With the potential to perform computations that are currently impossible, quantum computing offers a promising technological path forward for drug discovery. But to facilitate the impact, new accurate quantum-ingrained chemistry methods are required as the basis for hardware-optimized quantum algorithms,” says Ove Christiansen, Professor at the Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University. Those methods must in turn be implemented and made accessible to specialists in industry through simple-to-use software that can be straightforwardly integrated into existing workflows. Quantum Computers can Push the Boundary for Molecular Simulations A key computational bottleneck in drug discovery is to accurately predict how strongly a candidate drug molecule will bind to its target protein, also known as the binding affinity. Funded by the Innovation Fund Denmark, the international and interdisciplinary consortium behind EarlyBIRDD will tackle this challenge head-on. Through innovations in computational chemistry methods, co-development of quantum hardware and algorithms, and integration into efficient user-tailored software, the consortium will provide the pharmaceutical industry with an entirely new technology that leverages the full computational capacity of state-of-the-art quantum computers for solving exactly the binding affinity problem. “Molecular simulations are extremely hard for classical computers but naturally translate into the language of quantum computers. This makes computational chemistry a very promising place to look for first use cases of quantum computing with high business value,” says Nikolaj Thomas Zinner, CSO and co-founder of Kvantify and project leader of EarlyBIRDD. Potential to Reduce Industry Costs Significantly It is anticipated that breakthroughs in computer-assisted drug development will reduce R&D costs by up to 50%. EarlyBIRDD will contribute directly to that, and in the longer term deliver economic growth by making quantum computing an innovation enabler for the pharmaceutical industry that alone constitutes 10% of Danish GDP. “Quantum computing hardware will remain in-development for years to come, but with the so-called early fault-tolerant quantum computers we are entering a regime where we expect to see industrial impact. However, making an early bird tap into this imminent business potential requires dedicated co-development across the entire chain – from problem and method formulation to algorithm development, hardware implementation, and software integration,” Nikolaj Thomas Zinner explains. Collaboration between Research, Technology, and Industry With the investment from Innovation Fund Denmark, EarlyBIRDD can make those vital complementary connections between Aarhus University’s expertise in theoretical quantum chemistry, Kvantify’s quantum software and algorithms, and Atom Computing’s scalable quantum computing hardware and bring the entire development process into a single, focused project. To ensure end user compatibility the consortium will establish a forum of industry stakeholders and solicit their input on software functionalities and performance needs. Here, EarlyBIRDD will also benefit from subcontractor Alexandra Institute’s expertise in user interface development. EarlyBIRDD is an ambitious, high-value endeavor poised to position Denmark firmly in the global quantum computing competition and give Danish industries a head start in adopting and exploiting the technology.
Matt Swayne LinkedIn With a several-decades long background in journalism and communications, Matt Swayne has worked as a science communicator for an R1 university for more than 12 years, specializing in translating high tech and deep tech for the general audience. He has served as a writer, editor and analyst at The Quantum Insider since its inception. In addition to his service as a science communicator, Matt also develops courses to improve the media and communications skills of scientists and has taught courses. matt@thequantuminsider.com Share this article: