Quantum computing's potential for drug discovery: Early stage industry dynamics

Maximillian Zinner; Florian Dahlhausen; Philip Boehme; Jan Ehlers; Linn Bieske; Leonard Fehring

doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2021.06.003

Quantum computing's potential for drug discovery: Early stage industry dynamics

Drug Discov Today. 2021 Jul;26(7):1680-1688. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2021.06.003. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

Authors

Maximillian Zinner¹, Florian Dahlhausen¹, Philip Boehme², Jan Ehlers¹, Linn Bieske², Leonard Fehring³

Affiliations

¹ Didactics and Educational Research in Health Care, Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, Germany.
² Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, Germany.
³ Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, Germany. Electronic address: leonard.fehring@googlemail.com.

PMID: 34119668
DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2021.06.003

Abstract

Quantum computing (QC) is expected to revolutionize drug research by performing tasks classical supercomputers are not capable of. However, practically useful quantum computation is not yet a reality, and thus it is still unclear when and whether QC will be capable of solving real-world issues in drug discovery. By identifying the QC-related activities of pharmaceutical companies, startups, and academia in the field of drug discovery and development, we show that QC has gained traction across all of these stakeholder groups, that there is focus on developing utilities related to lead optimization and compound screening, and that there is a need for collaboration in the highly dynamic QC ecosystem.

Keywords: Computational drug design; Drug development; Drug discovery; Pharmaceutical industry; Quantum computing; Quantum technology; Technology adoption.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Computing Methodologies
Drug Discovery*
Drug Industry
Quantum Theory