PolarisQB Launches Quantum-AI Drug Discovery Platform for Beta Testing
Polaris Quantum Biotech (PolarisQB) has launched QuADD (Quantum-Aided Drug Design), a SaaS platform combining quantum computing and AI for early-stage drug discovery. The company is opening a beta program for researchers and companies to access the system, which is designed to drastically reduce lead discovery timelines by computationally navigating chemical spaces of up to 10^30 molecules.
QuADD uses quantum annealing, via a partnership with D-Wave, to accelerate combinatorial optimization tasks that underpin small molecule design. The platform integrates AI for property prediction and structure optimization, generating libraries of 1,000 to 10,000 candidate molecules based on user-submitted protein binding pockets and initial ligands. These libraries are filtered against synthetic accessibility and key drug-likeness metrics (e.g. blood-brain barrier permeability, solubility, toxicity, metabolic stability, and structural fit) to identify synthesizable, functionally viable compounds.
In addition to de novo design, QuADD supports queries of vendor libraries including Enamine, eMolecules, Otava, and LCC. It also includes built-in scaffold-hopping and IP-periphery expansion capabilities. The system is deployed as an isolated, confidential cloud service for research teams.
Founded in 2020 and based in Durham, North Carolina, PolarisQB develops quantum-powered technologies for small molecule drug discovery. The company claims this is the first quantum-native drug design platform commercially available via SaaS. QuADD is being positioned for use by pharmaceutical and biotech research groups targeting hard-to-drug proteins or needing to accelerate early-stage lead identification.
Applications for beta access are open at quadd.bio.
Topic: AI in Bio
