How will quantum impact the biotech industry?

The
physics
of
atoms
and
the
technology
behind
treating
disease
might
sound
like
disparate
fields.
However,
in
the
past
few
decades,
advances
in
artificial
intelligence,
sensing,
simulation
and
more
have driven enormous
impacts within
the biotech industry.

Quantum
computing provides
an
opportunity to extend
these
advancements
with computational
speedups and/or
accuracy in
each
of
those
areas. Now
is
the
time for
enterprises,
commercial
organizations
and
research
institutions
to
begin
exploring
how
to
use
quantum
to
solve
problems
in
their
respective
domains.

As
a
Partner
in
IBM’s
Quantum
practice,
I’ve
had
the
pleasure
of working
alongside
Wade
Davis,
Vice
President
of
Computational
Science
&
Head
of
Digital
for
Research
at
Moderna,
to
drive
quantum
innovation
in
healthcare.
Below,
you’ll
find
some
of
the
perspectives
we
share
on
the
future
in
quantum compute in
biotech.

What
is quantum computing?

Quantum
computing
is
a
new
kind
of
computer
processing
technology
that
relies
on
the
science
that
governs
the
behavior
of
atoms
to
solve
problems
that
are too
complex
or
not
practical for
today’s
fastest
supercomputers.
We
don’t
expect
quantum
to
replace
classical computing. Rather,
quantum
computers
will
serve
as
a highly
specialized
and complementary
computing
resource
for
running
specific tasks.

A
classical
computer
is
how
you’re
reading
this
blog.
These
computers
represent
information
in
strings
of
zeros
and
ones
and
manipulate
these
strings
by
using
a
set
of
logical
operations.
The
result
is
a
computer
that
behaves
deterministically—these
operations
have
well-defined
effects,
and
a
sequence
of
operations
resulting
in
a
single outcome.
Quantum
computers,
however,
are
probabilistic—the
same
sequence
of
operations
can
have
different
outcomes,
allowing
these
computers
to
explore
and
calculate multiple
scenarios
simultaneously.
But
this
alone does
not
explain
the
full
power
of quantum computing. Quantum
mechanics
offers
us
access
to
a
tweaked
and
counterintuitive
version
of
probability
that
allows
us
to
run
computations
inaccessible
to
classical
computers. 

Therefore,
quantum
computers
enable
us
to
evaluate
new
dimensions
for
existing
problems
and
explore
entirely
new
frontiers
that
are
not
accessible
today.
And
they
perform
computations
in
a
way
that
more
closely
mirrors
nature
itself.

As
mentioned,
we
don’t
expect
quantum
computers
to
replace
classical
computers.
Each
one
has
its
strengths
and
weaknesses:
while
quantum
will
excel
at
running
certain
algorithms
or
simulating
nature,
classical
will
still
take
on
much
of
the
work.
We
anticipate
a
future
wherein
programs
weave
quantum
and
classical
computation
together,
relying
on
each
one
where
they’re
more
appropriate.
Quantum
will
extend
the
power
of
classical. 

Unlocking
new
potential

A
set
of
core
enterprise
applications
has crystallized
from
an
environment
of
rapidly
maturing
quantum
hardware
and
software.
What
the
following
problems
share
are
many
variables,
a
structure
that
seems
to
map
well
to
the
rules
of
quantum
mechanics,
and
difficulty
solving
them
with
today’s
HPC
resources.
They
broadly
fall
into
three
buckets:

• 
  Advanced
  mathematics
  and
  complex
  data
  structures. The
  multidimensional
  nature
  of
  quantum
  mechanics
  offers
  a
  new
  way
  to
  approach
  problems
  with
  many
  moving
  parts,
  enabling
  better
  analytic
  performance
  for
  computationally
  complex
  problems.
  Even
  with
  recent
  and
  transformative
  advancements
  in
  AI
  and
  generative
  AI,
  quantum
  compute
  promises
  the
  ability
  to
  identify
  and
  recognize
  patterns
  that
  are
  not
  detectable
  for
  classical-trained
  AI,
  especially
  where
  data
  is
  sparse
  and
  imbalanced.
  For
  biotech,
  this
  might
  be
  beneficial
  for
  combing
  through
  datasets
  to
  find
  trends
  that
  might
  identify
  and
  personalize
  interventions
  that
  target
  disease
  at
  the
  cellular
  level.
• 
  Search
  and
  optimization. Enterprises
  have
  a
  large
  appetite
  for
  tackling
  complex
  combinatorial
  and
  black-box
  problems
  to
  generate
  more
  robust
  insights
  for
  strategic
  planning
  and
  investments. Though
  further
  on
  the
  horizon,
  quantum
  systems
  are
  being
  intensely
  studied
  for
  their
  ability
  to
  consider
  a
  broad
  set
  of
  computations
  concurrently, by
  generating
  statistical
  distributions, unlocking
  a
  host
  of
  promising
  opportunities including
  the
  ability
  to
  rapidly
  identify
  protein
  folding
  structures
  and
  optimize
  sequencing
  to
  advance
  mRNA-based
  therapeutics.
• 
  Simulating
  nature.
  Quantum
  computers
  naturally
  re-create
  the
  behavior
  of
  atoms
  and
  even
  subatomic
  particles—making
  them
  valuable
  for
  simulating
  how
  matter
  interacts
  with
  its
  environment.
  This
  opens
  up
  new
  possibilities
  to
  design
  new
  drugs
  to
  fight
  emerging
  diseases
  within
  the
  biotech
  industry—and
  more
  broadly,
  to
  discover
  new
  materials
  that
  can
  enable
  carbon
  capture
  and
  optimize
  energy
  storage
  to
  help
  industries
  fight
  climate
  change.

At
IBM,
we
recognize
that
our
role
is
not
only
to
provide
world-leading
hardware
and
software,
but
also
to
connect
quantum
experts
with
nonquantum
domain
experts
across
these
areas
to
bring
useful
quantum
computing
sooner.
To
that
end,
we convened five
working
groups
covering
healthcare/life
sciences,
materials
science,
high-energy
physics,
optimization
and
sustainability.
Each
of
these
working
groups
gathers in person
to
generate
ideas
and
foster
collaborations—and
then
these
collaborations
work
together
to
produce new research
and
domain-specific
implementations
of
quantum
algorithms.

As
algorithm
discovery
and
development
matures
and
we
expand
our
focus
to
real-world
applications,
commercial
entities,
too,
are
shifting
from
experimental
proof-of-concepts
toward
utility-scale
prototypes
that
will
be
integrated
into
their
workflows.
Over
the
next
few
years,
enterprises
across
the
world
will
be
investing
to
upskill
talent
and
prepare
their
organizations
for
the
arrival
of
quantum
computing.

Today,
an
organization’s
quantum
computing
readiness
score
is
most
influenced
by
its
operating
model:
if
an
organization
invests
in
a
team
and
a
process
to
govern
their
quantum
innovation,
they
are
better
positioned
than
peers
that
focus
just
on
the
technology
without
corresponding
investment
in
their
talent
and
innovation
process. 
IBM
Institute
for
Business
Value
|
Research
Insights:
Making
Quantum
Readiness
Real

Among
industries
that
are
making
the
pivot
to
useful
quantum
computing,
the
biotech
industry
is
moving
rapidly
to
explore
how
quantum
compute
can
help
reduce
the
cost
and
speed
up
the
time
required
to
discover,
create,
and
distribute
therapeutic
treatments
that
will
improve
the
health,
the
well
being
and
the
quality
of
life
for
individuals
suffering
from
chronic
disease.
According
to
BCG’s

Quantum
Computing
Is
Becoming
Business
Ready
report:
“eight
of
the
top
ten
biopharma
companies
are
piloting
quantum
computing,
and
five
have
partnered
with
quantum
providers.”

Partnering
with
IBM

Recent
advancements
in
quantum
computing
have
opened
new
avenues
for
tackling
complex
combinatorial
problems
that
are
intractable
for
classical
computers.
Among
these
challenges,
the
prediction
of
mRNA
secondary
structure
is
a
critical
task
in
molecular
biology,
impacting
our
understanding
of
gene
expression,
regulation
and
the
design
of
RNA-based
therapeutics.

For
example,
Moderna
has
been
pioneering
the
development
of
quantum
for
biotechnology.
Emerging
from
the
pandemic,
Moderna
established
itself
as
a
game-changing
innovator
in
biotech
when
a
decade
of
extensive
R&D
allowed
them
to
use
their
technology
platform
to
deliver
a
COVID-19
vaccine
with
record
speed. 

Learn
more:
How
Moderna
uses
lipid
nanoparticles
(LNPs)
to
deliver
mRNA
and
help
fight
disease

Given
the
value
of
their
platform
approach,
perhaps
quantum
might
further
push
their
ability
to
perform
mRNA
research,
providing
a
host
of
novel
mRNA
vaccines
more
efficiently
than
ever
before.
This
is
where
IBM
can
help. 

As
an
initial
step,
Moderna
is
working
with
IBM
to
benchmark
the
application
of
quantum
computing
against a classical CPlex
protein
analysis
solver.
They’re
evaluating
the
performance
of
a
quantum
algorithm
called
CVaR
VQE
on
randomly
generated
mRNA
nucleotide
sequences
to
accurately
predict
stable
mRNA
structures
as
compared
to
current
state
of
the
art.
Their
findings
demonstrate
the
potential
of
quantum
computing
to
provide
insights
into
mRNA
dynamics
and
offer
a
promising
direction
for
advancing
computational
biology
through
quantum
algorithms.
As
a
next
step,
they
hope
to
push
quantum
to
sequence
lengths
beyond
what
CPLEX
can
handle.

This
is
just
one
of
many
collaborations
that
are
transforming
biotech processes with
the
help
of
quantum
computation.
Biotech
enterprises
are
using
IBM
Quantum
Systems
to
run
their
workloads
on
real
utility-scale
quantum
hardware,
while
leveraging
the
IBM
Quantum
Network
to
share
expertise
across
domains.
And
with
our
updated
IBM
Quantum
Accelerator
program,
enterprises
can
now prepare
their
organizations
with
hands-on guidance
to identify
use
cases,
design
workflows
and
develop
utility-scale
prototypes
that
use
quantum
computation
for
business
impact. 

The
time
has
never
been
better
to
begin
your
quantum
journey—get
started
today.

Bringing
useful
quantum
computing
to
the
world