DARPA Funds PolarisQB to Advance Quantum-Aided Drug Design
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Polaris Quantum Biotech (PolarisQB) an Embedded Entrepreneurship Initiative (EEI) grant to accelerate commercialization of its quantum computing platform for drug design. The funding follows earlier DARPA-backed research under the “Imagining Practical Applications for a Quantum Tomorrow” (IMPAQT) program, where the company applied quantum algorithms to identify small-molecule inhibitors against Ebola-related protein-protein interactions.
PolarisQB’s work under the IMPAQT contract resulted in a variational quantum algorithm (VQA) capable of addressing protein-protein interaction targets, an area often considered intractable in traditional drug discovery. Findings from this effort were detailed in several white papers authored by Ken Byler, Anna Petroff, and Maurice Benson. The EEI award now supports the transition of this research into commercial applications, including therapeutic areas such as central nervous system disorders.
The company’s flagship platform, Quantum-Aided Drug Design (QuADD), is offered as a software-as-a-service tool for biotech and pharmaceutical discovery teams. In August 2025, PolarisQB launched beta testing of its QuADD platform, a SaaS system that integrates quantum computing and artificial intelligence for early-stage drug discovery. The platform applies quantum annealing, developed in partnership with D-Wave, to accelerate combinatorial optimization, while AI models evaluate candidate molecules against drug-likeness and synthetic accessibility criteria.
It supports both de novo compound generation and queries of commercial libraries, providing filtered sets of viable candidates for pharmaceutical and biotech researchers. According to PolarisQB, QuADD can search through chemical spaces on the order of 10^30 molecular candidates within hours. The platform integrates quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and molecular modeling to produce 3D conformations fitted to target protein pockets.
Founded in 2020 in Durham, North Carolina, PolarisQB describes QuADD as the first drug discovery platform built directly on quantum computing infrastructure. The new EEI award provides entrepreneurship support to help PolarisQB transition its platform toward broader adoption in the drug discovery sector.
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Topic: AI in Bio
