PASQAL, leader in the field of quantum computing, and Qubit Pharmaceuticals, a deeptech specializing in drug discovery, are among the 12 winners of the Quantum for Bio* program, alongside NASA and prestigious universities such as Harvard and Cambridge.
In consortium with Unitary Fund, the leading open-source non-profit in quantum technologies, the project proposed and selected targets the development of a new quantum algorithm to accelerate drug discovery based on small chemical molecules.
The selection of this project will enable PASQAL, Qubit Pharmaceutical and Unitary Fund to receive a budget of 4.5 million dollars, which will be distributed in three steps over the three key phases of the 30-month development program.
* Quantum for Bio was launched by Wellcome Leap, a U.S.-based non-profit organization founded by the Wellcome Trust in 2020, which develops and implements programs that enable breakthroughs in healthcare.
About PASQUAL & Qubit Pharmaceutical
PASQAL builds quantum computers from ordered neutral atoms in 2D and 3D arrays to bring a practical quantum advantage to its customers and address real-world problems. PASQAL was founded in 2019, out of the Institut d’Optique, by Georges-Olivier Reymond, Christophe Jurczak, Professor Dr. Alain Aspect, Nobel Prize Laureate Physics, 2022, Dr. Antoine Browaeys, and Dr. Thierry Lahaye. PASQAL has secured more than €140 million in financing to date.
Qubit Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2020 with the vision of co-developing, with pharmaceutical and biotech companies, new, more effective and safer drugs. A spin-off from the research work of five internationally renowned scientists – Louis Lagardère (Sorbonne University and CNRS), Matthieu Montes (CNAM), Jean-Philip Piquemal (Sorbonne University and CNRS), Jay Ponder (Washington University in St Louis), Pengyu Ren (University of Texas at Austin) – Qubit Pharmaceuticals leverages its Atlas platform to discover new drugs through simulation and molecular modeling accelerated by hybrid HPC and quantum computing. The multidisciplinary team, led by CEO Robert Marino, and the founders are based in France at the Paris Santé Cochin incubator and in the USA in Boston.