This is Part III of a multipart series exploring how quantum computing is being used in the pharmaceutical industry for the discovery and development of new drugs. Part I of the series – How Quantum Computing is Reshaping the Future of Drug Discovery and Part II of the Series – Quantum Computing in Drug Discovery: Global Concentrations and Emerging Frontiers. Written by the VBNGtv’s Business Pen. Â
Quantum computing is swiftly transforming drug discovery, enabling pharmaceutical companies to solve complex molecular problems with unprecedented speed and precision. This cutting-edge technology is accelerating the identification and development of new medicines, promising to reduce timelines from years to months while significantly cutting research costs. In this third installment of our series, we explore leading companies at the forefront of integrating quantum computing into drug discovery pipelines and how their innovations are reshaping the future of pharmaceutical R&D.
IBM (Armonk, New York, USA)
IBM has been pioneering in quantum computing since the early 2000s, investing billions in quantum research and development. The company develops hybrid quantum-classical algorithms focused on precise molecular interaction simulations to accelerate drug discovery pipelines. IBM collaborates with major pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Moderna, demonstrating advanced quantum-classical methods to predict complex biological structures, such as mRNA secondary structures using quantum computations with up to 156 qubits. Their quantum accelerator program supports ongoing innovation and integration in pharmaceutical R&D.
IBM’s projects are at advanced pilot stages with projections indicating quantum computing could reduce drug discovery timelines by 50-70% compared to classical methods, enhancing efficiency and cutting costs. While still employing hybrid approaches rather than fully replacing classical computing, IBM is pushing practical applications toward industry readiness. They have achieved record quantum simulations in molecular biology and are strategically positioned to transition from proof-of-concept to broad pharmaceutical deployment over the next few years.
Aqemia (Paris, France)
Aqemia, founded from academic research at École Normale Supérieure with ties to Oxford and Cambridge, applies proprietary quantum-inspired physics algorithms combined with AI to accelerate drug discovery. They have raised over $125 million through multiple rounds, and are collaborating with pharmaceutical giants such as Servier, Sanofi, and Janssen. Aqemia’s platform dramatically speeds molecular simulations, claimed to be 10,000 times faster than traditional methods, and advances drug candidates rapidly, with some already entering in vivo animal testing and plans for clinical trials in 2025.
Their platform targets complex diseases including oncology and immuno-oncology, leveraging unique quantum physics models to slash drug discovery timelines from 5-6 years to under two years. Aqemia’s efforts demonstrate significant progress toward commercial drug development, with a rapidly growing team and an expanding drug pipeline. They have strong funding and strategic partnerships that place them close to clinical applications, supporting accelerated drug candidate development.
Polaris Quantum Biotech (Singapore)
Polaris Quantum Biotech launched its QuADD quantum-AI drug discovery platform in August 2025, using quantum annealing combined with AI to search massive chemical spaces of up to 10^30 molecules. Their SaaS platform optimizes for drug-like properties and generates thousands of lead candidates rapidly, significantly shortening timelines from years to days. PolarisQB actively partners with Fujitsu and Auransa, focusing on diseases like dengue fever and triple-negative breast cancer.
The company has moved beyond initial research to late-stage development and real-world testing with beta testing collaborations underway. It recently secured DARPA’s (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a U.S. Department of Defense agency) entrepreneurship grant to commercialize its platform, indicating sustained funding from early venture capital and government sources. PolarisQB’s platform is commercially poised and scaling, making it one of the closest companies to practical drug discovery applications using quantum technology.
Menten AI (New York, USA)
Menten AI, founded in 2021, integrates quantum computing and machine learning to revolutionize peptide therapeutics discovery. With approximately $26 million raised, they partner with quantum software company Xanadu and leverage PennyLane for quantum machine learning. Menten AI designed the world’s first protein on a quantum computer and uses quantum optimization combined with AI to drastically reduce drug candidate screening time and cost by performing hundreds of thousands of in-silico simulations before synthesis.
Their platform is at an advanced R&D stage, targeting oncology and neurodegeneration therapeutics. Menten AI projects that increasing power from improved quantum hardware will enhance drug design efficiency, speeding timelines and lowering R&D costs. Their innovative approach allows high success rates from fewer candidate molecules, placing them in the advanced research phase but slightly behind industry leaders on clinical translation.
Insilico Medicine (Hong Kong and the United States)
Insilico Medicine has been developing AI and quantum-enabled drug discovery since 2020, raising over $435 million during that period to grow its Pharma.AI platform. This reflects investments from backers like Warburg Pincus, OrbiMed Advisors, and Eli Lilly’s venture arm, supporting the design of drugs targeting difficult cancer proteins such as KRAS, which were historically undruggable. Their hybrid quantum-classical approach combines generative AI and quantum computing to identify promising candidates now in preclinical testing.
While still validating the quantum advantage, Insilico’s platform shows promise by potentially shortening discovery timelines by years and significantly cutting costs. Their strong financial backing and focus on high-impact disease targets position them to expand quantum applications rapidly with progress toward animal model tests and eventual clinical development phases.
Qubit Pharmaceuticals (Paris, France)
Qubit Pharmaceuticals, active since 2020, combines quantum algorithms with NVIDIA’s GPU-powered classical supercomputers in their Atlas platform to accelerate drug discovery simulations up to 100,000 times faster than conventional methods. They have raised several million USD and collaborate with NVIDIA and Pasqal, including projects modeling protein hydration critical to drug binding.
Qubit is transitioning from accelerated computational research to preclinical candidate delivery, having identified potential COVID-19 drug candidates in six months. Their hybrid quantum-classical platform aims to reduce drug development costs and timelines by a factor of ten. Though advanced research to early application phase, Qubit remains slightly behind more clinically advanced companies.
AWS Quantum Computing for Drug Discovery (Seattle, USA)
AWS is accelerating drug discovery through its Quantum Computing Exploration project on Amazon Braket, combining quantum and classical computing for molecular docking, protein folding, and retrosynthetic planning. Working with partners such as AstraZeneca, IonQ, NVIDIA, and Qubit Pharmaceuticals, AWS has demonstrated hybrid workflows that cut computation times by up to 20 times for complex chemistry tasks. Pharmaceutical partners have invested more than $400 million since 2023, supporting open-source tools and pilot programs that show tangible improvements in molecular simulations and drug design efficiency.
Although not yet fully commercialized, the initiative gained momentum with milestones like the June 2025 demonstration using IonQ’s Forte QPU and NVIDIA GPUs to accelerate Suzuki-Miyaura reaction simulations, a key process in small molecule drug synthesis. At AWS re:Invent 2025, Merck and other pharma collaborators presented applications of Braket-based quantum algorithms for manufacturing and cancer diagnostics, further integrating tools like MATLAB and AWS classical resources. With strong funding and industry engagement, the project represents a forward-looking step toward scalable quantum drug discovery once hardware and adoption progress further.
Xanadu Quantum Technologies (Toronto, Canada)
Xanadu, founded in 2016, specializes in photonic quantum computing with over $70 million in funding. Their PennyLane software framework supports partners like Menten AI, and they collaborate with AstraZeneca on improving drug interaction predictions up to 15% better than classical methods. Xanadu focuses on quantum-enhanced molecular simulations reducing timelines from weeks to hours.
Their research and pilot implementations are advanced but scaling to full quantum advantage hinges on ongoing hardware improvements. They plan to develop personalized medicine algorithms in future phases. Xanadu’s technology is promising and integrated into industry projects but is progressing toward broader quantum drug discovery application rather than already in clinical phases.
Atos / Eviden (Bezons, France)
Atos, through its Eviden brand, has invested hundreds of millions of euros over more than a decade in quantum computing with partnerships including Servier, Sanofi, and Janssen. Their Qaptiva platform launched in 2023 supports real-world drug discovery applications by fast-tracking molecular simulations. Eviden aims to reduce discovery times by 50-70% with quantum-assisted methods.
The platform is commercially available and active but largely depends on evolving quantum technologies and regulatory acceptance for widespread adoption. Atos’ long-term strategic investment places it well in the field, but broad completion and clinical translation processes still face significant timelines.
Pasqal (Paris, France)
Pasqal, founded in 2019 with over $50 million in funding, develops neutral-atom quantum computing for drug discovery, partnering with Qubit Pharmaceuticals. Their focus is simulating protein hydration and drug-protein interactions, a fundamental but challenging aspect of drug design using hybrid quantum-classical algorithms. To date, they demonstrated proof-of-concept work with 14 qubits on real quantum devices.
This pioneering project is early stage yet promising, showing scalability potential as quantum computing architectures mature. Pasqal’s innovation provides a valuable scientific approach but remains furthest from immediate drug development application, with ongoing research and gradual progress toward industry-ready solutions.
The companies highlighted in this series represent a pivotal moment in the intersection of quantum computing and pharmaceutical science. From IBM’s advanced hybrid algorithms to Aqemia’s quantum-inspired acceleration and PolarisQB’s AI-driven molecule screening, the field is evolving from concept to commercial impact. These innovators are reducing drug discovery timelines from years to months and cutting costs across the R&D cycle. Collectively, their work signals that quantum computing is not a distant vision, it’s rapidly becoming a practical instrument in reshaping how new medicines are designed, tested, and delivered to patients worldwide.
