Category Archives: Polaris News

BioPharmaTrend.com Names POLARISqb a Notable Biotech Startup

BioPharmaTrend.com is a leading blog covering the pharmaceutical sector with a focus on Artificial Intelligence, Drug Discovery, and the ways that the healthcare sector is changing due to the digital transformation happening within the industry. Having also built an analytics platform for the sector, BioPharmaTrend understands the impact of technology not only from a journalistic standpoint, but from the viewpoint of a tech innovator who has created their own platform. POLARISqb was cited in their recent article, "Pharmaceutical Artificial Intelligence in 2020: The Sector is Heating Up For Investments," alongside leading companies like Xtalpi, Insitro, ImmunAI, Transilico, and others.

In reading the fundraising numbers cited in the article, it is clear that the AI sector truly is heating up in terms of investments. Xtalpi certainly leads the way, having secured $319 million in capital, but other companies have had Series B rounds ranging from $20 million to $150 million in 2020. As we continue to see artificial intelligence become more commercially viable and stable technologies within the sector, the speed with which pharmaceutical achievements are accomplished will become greater, lowering costs and providing access to medical breakthroughs to many patients who may have previously not had treatment options previously. Also, developments within the quantum computing sector are advancing at a meteoric pace, and with these developments come opportunities to apply more advanced computing techniques, as we do in POLARISqb, to help develop novel treatments for diseases that have previously proven difficult to treat or cure. This is one way that we are unique among the companies named in the article, as we were the only company recognized that is utilizing a proven quantum solution within the biopharma sector.

It is for precisely this kind of work that BioPharmaTrend has recognized POLARISqb, as our use of quantum computing to power optimization and annealing processes within drug discovery holds the promise of revolutionizing the timelines for developments of new drugs and treatments. In the article, they identify our, "new drug discovery platform, which combines quantum-inspired technology, machine learning, hybrid quantum mechanics, and molecular mechanics simulations," as a promising development for cutting drug development timelines by up to 90%. The applicability of the POLARISqb system continues to grow, we work to ensure our software stack is agnostic in most respects, meaning that the algorithms can be used on a variety of compute architectures. We are honored to be recognized alongside industry leaders and other startups that are among the vanguard of the use of artificial intelligence in the pharmaceutical sector, and look forward to a future where our technology is able to change the world, providing drug treatments to cure all diseases for all people.

POLARISqb Named One of Seven Pharma Startups to Watch in 2021 by Startus Insights

StartUs Insights, a leading research and consulting group focused on the global startup market, has named POLARISqb one of their "7 Pharma Startups You Should Watch in 2021." StartUs Insights, which works with major international corporations such as Nestle, Lufthansa, and Pharmapack, researches the most promising startup companies from across a wide variety of industries including pharmaceuticals, transportation, healthcare, and logistics

2020 has brought significant challenges in the pharmaceutical sector, and StartUs Insights recognized POLARISqb along with companies that develop novel treatment such as ANA Therapeutics and MRM Health and companies working to develop vaccines and testing such as Ancora.AI and Pulmobiotics. In describing the company, StartUs cited our work that, "combines quantum computing and AI to search through large and unstructured medical datasets,"  as well as recognizing the ability of our software to filter for drug toxicity and other ADMET characteristics of various potential treatment molecules. As we continue to develop our platform to utilize the most advanced quantum computing resources available, our ability to use this technology to target specific proteins and diseases is making the drug discovery process more efficient and accurate.

We are glad to be recognized by StartUs Insights as a leader in the world of quantum drug discovery, as we proceed in our development of tools that will revolutionize the costs and timeframe associated with the development of new drugs and treatments. These technologies will provide greater opportunity for us to achieve the goal set forth in our company motto, to create drug blueprints to treat and cure all diseases for all people.

WRAL Techwire: Triangle startups graduate from top accelerator for underrepresented founders

WRAL Techwire has recognized the work of our CEO, Dr. Shahar Keinan, who was just announced as a member of the 2020 cohort of the Silicon Valley startup accelerator, Founder Gym. Of her participation in the program, Keinan said, "“I am much more confident in my pitch.  Now, I’m part of a community of other founders who are also underrepresented in tech, share the same difficulties, and support each other.”

Also in her cohort was the CEO of another member of the American Underground in Durham, NC, All Elements founder Mutuk Karpakakunjaram. Both of the attendees were supported through a scholarship from Google for Startups, who also partners with American Underground to help their members hone their skills when it comes to fundraising, communication, and connection with other startups facing similar challenges.

FOUNDER GYM

Led by experts in Silicon Valley, Founder Gym is an accelerator program that teaches underrepresented founders how to raise money to scale their startups.

Participants are chosen through application or nomination and over six weeks are coached on pitch crafting, fundraising and teambuilding by venture capitalists and other experts.

Since its inception in 2017, more than 440 founders from over 20 countries have graduated from Founder Gym, having been featured in Forbes, WIRED, Essence, CNBC and on NPR.

POLARISqb Cited as Innovator by The Quantum Daily’s 2020 Survey

The Quantum Daily, a website that is dedicated solely to the coverage of the news and developments in the world of quantum computing, has recently completed its Quantum Technologies Survey. The data from this survey came in the form of responses from 35 leaders in the world of quantum, and covered topics including, "key quantum computing milestones, use cases, and investment in the space."

In terms of technical milestones that will have the most impact on the world of quantum computing, over 50% of respondents thought that one of two types of vanguard technology would have the greatest impact on the field, with 31% citing superconducting, and over 20% identifying trapped ion computing. But computing power alone does not hold the promise for utilizing quantum to solve the world's toughest problems, it takes applications to transform that power into results.

In discussing how quantum will be used to create real world solutions, The Quantum Daily reports that they, "consistently voted Chemistry and Pharma applications - where problems are quantum mechanical by nature - as the most likely to benefit from early stage practical quantum computers."  In this regard, the survey found that POLARISqb was one of the companies most often cited as having an impact in this space.  Building upon our use of annealing technology  to identify potential treatment molecules for Dengue fever, we have continued to research new ways to apply our suite of software across quantum platforms, opening up new pathways for drug discovery and accelerating the process by over 75%.  By revolutionizing the way protein analysis and computational chemistry can take place in a quantum environment, we create the potential for developing cures and treatments for a wide variety of ailments on a much faster timeline.

One area where the survey detailed a fairly uncharted path was for the future of funding for the quantum sector. While there was positive trend with 40% of respondents seeing increased government investment being offered to companies within the sector, investments that will undoubtedly result in further advancement of both technological development and a wider array of quantum applications in the future, private investment was seen as lagging behind by respondents, with only 20% saying that they see funding for quantum applications coming from venture capital firms. The sector overall was seen by over 60% of respondents of having valuations that are accurate to their potential, but the same percentage reporting that they believe there is currently not enough net investment in quantum computing and applications.

Though 2020 has offered challenges in various ways, the burgeoning growth in the quantum field has only accelerated during this period. We are honored to be recognized as an innovator in the field of quantum drug discovery and the use of quantum technologies for computational chemistry, and it is our hope that through our applications and projects we are able to reach the lofty goals of our company, to cure all disease, for all people.