Yonsei says its new quantum computer could slash drug prices by up to 99 percent

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Yonsei says its new quantum computer could slash drug prices by up to 99 percent

Published: 20 Nov. 2024, 18:44

LEE JAE-LIM
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

IBM's Quantum System One, powered by a 127-qubit processor, began operations at Yonsei University's Songdo campus in Incheon on Wednesday. [IBM]

IBM's circuit-based commercial quantum computer, which became operational on Wednesday at Yonsei University's campus in Songdo, Incheon, aims to leverage qubits to make medical treatments cheaper.

Yonsei's researchers hope that the Quantum System One, powered by a 127-qubit processor, will cut the cost of life-saving drugs by orders of magnitude.

“R&D [research and development] that goes into biotech can be painfully expensive, and unlike other industrial sectors, it is one where initial cost does not always translate into profitability,” Cheong Jae-ho, head of Yonsei’s quantum computing project team, said at a press event commemorating the deployment of the Quantum System One at the Songdo campus on Wednesday.

Pfizer’s Beqvez, for example, is reportedly listed at $3.5 million in the United States prior to insurance and other rebates. “With quantum technology, we could potentially reduce the cost to around $300,000 or even $30,000,” Cheong said of the hemophilia B gene therapy that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration greenlit in April.

Yonsei University President Yoon Dong-sup speaks at the opening ceremony for IBM's Quantum System One at the school's Songdo campus on Wednesday.

The computer can achieve this, Cheong said, by better simulating molecules to help researchers target the proteins associated with specific diseases and find compounds that can regulate their functions. Chip giant Nvidia has also made forays into the space.

“These compounds may include antibodies, proteins, or small molecules,” Cheong said. “The process of discovering and optimizing these substances is highly calculation-intensive, making quantum computing a powerful tool in this area.”

The university plans to dedicate a full research team to the computer, which will partner with domestic firms from the consultation to implementation stages as they implement quantum technology in their respective sectors.

Quantum computers can solve highly complex calculations much faster and with greater precision than traditional computers. Unlike classical computers, which process bits that represent either zero or one, quantum computers use qubits that can exist in a superposition of both zero and one simultaneously. This unique property allows qubits to represent multiple states at once, enabling quantum computers to perform parallel processing and significantly boost computational efficiency.

Yonsei University has exclusive rights to fully utilize the IBM processor and is paying IBM an annual licensing fee for its use.

With the quantum computer in operation, Yonsei University is currently constructing a quantum complex, consisting of a quantum computing center and R&D facility on the Songdo campus, which is scheduled to open in March 2025.

Multiple bio firms and medical facilities, including Samsung Biologics and Celltrion, are headquartered in Incheon.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]