3 days ago
How IBM and Moderna's partnership could lead to an explosion in drug development
IBM: International Business Machines, or 'Incredible Breakthroughs in Medicine'?
IBM may need to tweak its moniker in light of recent news, because its recent work in quantum computing, in partnership with Moderna, could lead to potentially explosive breakthroughs in the medical field.
The companies' recently published research showed 'promise' using a combination of both quantum and classical computers to 'predict mRNA secondary structures,' which may make it easier to develop and design new mRNA-based medicines and treatments. Until now, this wasn't possible due to the amount of computing power needed to calculate potential complex interactions at a molecular level. But quantum computing, which is being used in similar ways such as materials design, is giving scientists the extra computational firepower they need to do it.
The results? More, better drugs, developed on much shorter time frames.
'One of the biggest challenges when identifying the best candidates for mRNA-based medicines is determining how they will instruct mRNA to fold in the body—a challenging optimization problem that gets harder and harder to solve for larger mRNA sequences, ultimately pushing the limits of even the most advanced classical computers,' says Sarah Sheldon, Senior Manager of Applied Quantum Science at IBM. 'By applying an approach that leverages the strengths of both quantum and classical computing, the Moderna and IBM team has set a new record in the scale of mRNA structure problems that quantum computers are able to solve.'
In effect, utilizing quantum computers on a large scale 'could transform life sciences,' she says.
'Quantum computing holds the promise to help streamline the design of new medicines, while reducing the time and cost scales of bringing new therapies to market,' explains Sheldon. 'As quantum computers continue to expand their computational power and new algorithms emerge, they could accelerate drug discovery and enable more precise and effective medicines.'
While that's obviously exciting news, it's worth noting that some in the tech field have tried to throw cold water on the hubbub surrounding quantum computing. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, for instance, said earlier this year that he thought quantum computers were still decades away—a notion that was rejected by others in the space. Some companies already do have commercially available quantum computers on the market, and others are working on their own, such as IBM.
One thing we do know, at this point, is that the promise of quantum computing, when pointed at existing research bottlenecks, has many researchers excited.
'We're already seeing promising early results,' says Sheldon. 'We expect to make meaningful progress with our partners across global industries to scale algorithms capable of running increasingly more complex quantum circuits with greater accuracy—a critical step toward realizing practical and industry-relevant applications in fields such as life sciences, materials, chemistry, optimization, and more.'