Tag Archives: POLARISqb

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.

Quantum Tech for Healthcare (August 2020)

Our CEO, Dr. Shahar Kienan was recently a member of a panel on Quantum Tech for Healthcare hosted by Dave Snelling of Fujitsu Global. The session featured presentations by Dr. Frederik Flother from IBM, Hans Melo of menten.ai, and Nihil Khaine of ApexBit on how quantum technology is being utilized in the healthcare field.

We are applying quantum computing to the world of drug discovery, accelerating the process by utilizing heuristic computing such as annealing to identify potential treatment molecules for a wide variety of diseases and ailments.

WRAL TechWire: Durham quantum-computing startup launches drug discovery platform it says is much faster

WRAL Techwire

DURHAM – Polaris Quantum Biotech (PQB) is coming out of stealth mode to launch a new drug discovery platform with UK-based Fujitsu that could help the global effort to quickly find a vaccine for coronavirus.

Calling it “ground-breaking,” Polaris says the platform is a combination of quantum-inspired technology, machine learning, hybrid quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics simulations (QM/MM).

The result, its co-founder Dr. Shahar Keinan says, is a new solution that enables significantly faster and cost-effective discovery of de novo lead molecules (repeat identification) that are used for the development of new drugs.

For many diseases the right drug still hasn’t been found, she added, and outbreaks such as the coronavirus are only highlighting the necessity for faster processes to find a cure in our world of global interconnections.

“We identified quantum computing as a technology at an inflection point that can dramatically reduce the cost and time it takes to develop new drugs,” said Keinan,  who once served as a post-doctoral fellow at Duke University and also co-founded Cloud Pharmaceuticals, also based in Durham, where she acted as chief scientific officer.

“We are actively tracking scientific developments with COVID-19 and are pursuing avenues to add our technology to the world-wide efforts to create small molecule drugs to combat this pandemic.”

The new platform will be able to produce up to 100 drug blueprints per year, the company says, compressing the lead time for preclinical drug candidates “from five years to four months,” enabling real time adaptability to the precision medicine market.

“The industry is therefore in profound need of innovation to speed up the drug discovery process,” Keinan said. “It is the combination of quantum computing and personalized medicine that Polaris will deploy in combination with these new targets to transform health for all people.”

$250,000 IN EQUITY

For those not in the know, quantum computing is the area of study focused on developing computer technology based on the principles of quantum theory, which explains the nature and behavior of energy and matter on the quantum (atomic and subatomic) level.

Keinan co-founded the company with Bill Shipman, a former research scientist with The Scripps Research Institute,  while both were working at Cloud Pharmaceuticals. When Cloud Pharmaceuticals became a holding company, they licensed part of their technology for development.

The startup, which is currently located in Durham’s American Underground with three employees recently, raised around $250,000 in equity, according to a recent securities filing.

Keinan said the funds would be used towards developing a full platform prototype from two proof-of-concept studies, including its collaboration with Fujitsu.

Under the partnership, the platform will use Fujitsu’s quantum-inspired Digital Annealer to search an exponentially larger molecular space (over 1 billion molecules) compared to current market techniques for new lead molecules.

Polaris says this platform can operate 10,000 times faster than any alternative solutions in the market. The short list of lead molecules identified by the Digital Annealer is then connected to Polaris’ proprietary machine-learning algorithm and quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics simulations (QM/MM) to quickly assess whether the molecules possess all the characteristics that a drug requires.

The resulting high-quality lead molecules are taken to synthesis and testing and finally to licensed pharmaceutical partners for further development, the company said in its release.

The current pilot is identifying the right molecules necessary to develop a treatment for dengue fever, a wide-spread disease with 100 million infections and 22,000 deaths every year. There is still no treatment for dengue fever that is suitable for all people affected.

The new lead molecules for a dengue fever drug are estimated to be made available for partners to take through to the next stages in the drug discovery process by this May.

In parallel,Polaris and Fujitsu said they are exploring the many other disease targets with pharmaceutical partners.