Severe stomach ache. Nausea. Fatigue. Infertility. These are just some of the symptoms that millions of women with endometriosis suffer – an incurable disease caused when tissue that lines the uterus grows elsewhere in the abdomen.
Shahar Keinan, the Israeli CEO of Polaris Quantum Biotech, is working with another female CEO in the field to use superfast quantum computers to find a cure for endometriosis that doctors estimate affects around 10% of women worldwide.
“This will help bring drugs to market quickly, especially in areas that have long been neglected,” says Keinan of her company’s new partnership with Californian Auransa Inc., which uses artificial intelligence to find new treatments . “This really solves an unmet need.”
The two companies will also work together to find treatments and cures for ovarian and breast cancer and polycystic ovarian syndrome.
“I believe that we will be able to combine our individual expertise in biology and chemistry to develop high-quality solutions for these very difficult to control or neglected diseases that affect women’s health,” says Pek Lum, Auransa’s CEO.
Solutions to these diseases are just a fraction of what Polarisqb, a North Carolina-based quantum computing startup, is researching in the fast-growing field of computational chemistry, where scientists use computer models instead of laboratory equipment to identify new compounds that stop or prevent can disease.
The technology, which is dramatically accelerating drug development, holds particular promise in areas that are still under-researched – such as women’s health – and rare diseases where drug companies often have poor return on investment.
Polarisqb is currently conducting an investment round. Retail investors can learn more details and participate via OurCrowd.
Traditional laboratory-based drug development methods are now becoming more expensive. Each new drug costs about $ 1 billion on average, a price that includes the many failed trials and studies, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. The costs are passed on to the patients.
The quantum computing used by Polarisqb calculates up to 10,000 times faster than conventional computers, helps to make more drugs available faster and at lower prices, and to reduce the average time to market for a drug from 10 to seven years, says Keinan.
To test the concept, Polarisqb scientists built on previous Novartis laboratory research on dengue fever, which had taken about four years, to identify molecules that could stop the disease, which causes nausea, rash, and body aches and can be fatal about 25% of the cases. Although there is a vaccine for certain age groups, it can only be given to people who have had the virus in the past. The virus still infects up to 400 million people around the world each year.
“We were able to use our platform and identify the same molecules from a library of billions in less than a minute. We also use the system to identify new molecules in order to overcome the problems with the old ones, ”said Keinan. The company will now commercialize these molecules to pharmaceutical companies.
The same work can be done with conventional computers, but “it’s a long and complicated operation,” says Keinan, and it would not save much compared to laboratory research. “We were looking for something faster and more efficient to be able to scale.”
Quantum computers allow the system to do super-fast calculations to figure out which molecules are best to use and quickly eliminate those that don’t work.
The platform works by scanning computer models of billions of different molecules. It identifies the molecules that could treat a particular disease by attacking and stopping the activity of a particular protein that changes the course of the disease. In cancer, certain molecules could stop the cancer cells’ DNA from replicating. In viruses, certain molecules could stop the replication of the RNA.
“Finding these molecules will stop the disease,” says Keinan, adding that these molecules then become prescriptions or blueprints for drugs.
“We’re just trying to find the perfect molecule or the key that fits exactly into the protein’s keyhole,” she says.
Polarisqb uses a digital annealer, a quantum-inspired technology developed by Fujitsu that is able to perform parallel optimization calculations in real time with a speed, precision and size that is unmatched by classical computing. The collaboration with Fujitsu expands the number of molecules sought from 10 million to trillions of molecules and thus increases the probability of finding new, useful drug candidates.
“The new solution from Polarisqb and Fujitsu shortens the time frame for drug discovery and lead optimization from up to 48 months to just eight months,” says Alex Brown, Drug Discovery Consultant at Fujitsu.
Traditionally, scientists have done this in laboratories and conducted experiments to exclude molecules or find effective ones. However, this process of trial and error is lengthy and costly, and one of the reasons why the average drug takes about a decade to develop.
“Either you do it slowly and very expensively,” says Keinan. “Or you find a new technology; and we do. “
You can find more information about investing in Polaris Quantum Biotech HERE.
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source https://dailyhealthynews.ca/sponsored-content-israeli-ceo-seeks-quantum-of-solace-for-womens-diseases/
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