Embracing the Quantum Economy 2024

Use cases covered in chemicals and advanced materials A.1.4Use cases covered in pharmaceuticals and healthcare (continued) A.1.3 Simultaneous drug delivery and drug efficacy testing with antibioticsQuantum-enhanced sensors enable simultaneous measurement of drug delivery rates and efficacy in real-time, offering unprecedented precision. This approach reduces the need for separate testing phases, significantly cutting costs and accelerating the development of regulatory drugs. Applied to antibiotics, it allows for quicker adjustments to formulations and dosages, improving patient outcomes while speeding up the go-to-market timeline for new treatments. COVID detection in breathUltrasensitive biomarker detection technology can be used to identify specific biomarkers in a person’s breath that indicate the presence of COVID-19. This non-invasive method leverages advanced sensors and analytical techniques to detect trace amounts of viral particles or related biomarkers with high accuracy and speed. It offers a rapid, convenient and reliable alternative to traditional testing methods, facilitating early detection and timely intervention to control the spread of the virus. Quantum communication and security More resilient keys for secure encryption and authenticationQRNGs generate truly random numbers, enhancing the security of medical data transmissions. They can be used to encrypt patient records and other sensitive information, protecting them from cyberthreats. Quantum-secure health information exchangesQuantum communication technologies using PQC/QKD ensure the security of health data exchanges between entities, protecting against potential quantum computing threats and ensuring compliance with health privacy regulations. Quantum computing Quantum chemistry simulations of chemical compounds used in fabrication of OLED devices (Mitsubishi Chemical, IBM, Keio University and JSR)87Scientists at Mitsubishi Chemical, IBM, Keio University and JSR performed quantum chemistry simulations on IBM quantum devices to describe quantum computations of the “excited states” or high-energy states of industrial chemical compounds that could potentially be used in the fabrication of efficient organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices. Catalyst design optimizationUtilizing the gate model of quantum computing, researchers can simulate and optimize catalyst structures at the quantum level. This approach allows for the precise manipulation of atomic configurations, enhancing catalyst activity and selectivity for chemical reactions critical in industrial processes. It can have an impact on nitrogen fixation in the agriculture industry, for example. Molecular docking Molecular docking is a computational technique used to predict the preferred orientation of one molecule to a second when bound to each other to form a stable complex. This is crucial in drug discovery and development, as it helps in understanding the interaction between drugs and their target proteins. By simulating the docking process, researchers can identify potential drug candidates more efficiently, predict their efficacy and optimize their chemical structures to enhance binding affinity and selectivity. PFAS chemicals remediation (Accenture, ICHEC, IonQ)88The PFAS molecular bond analysis kit from Accenture, ICHEC and IonQ uses chemistry simulation on quantum computers to calculate the energies needed for breaking chemical bonds in PFAS molecules, which are human- made carcinogenic “forever chemicals”. Modelling of non- covalent interactions in water and methane systems (Cleveland Clinic, Michigan State University and IBM)89Researchers use quantum computers in conjugation with high-performance classical compute to model non- covalent interactions in water and methane systems with quantum hardware performing experiments with up to 54 qubits. Their simulations on quantum processors are in remarkable agreement with classical methods. They have also tested the capacity limits of the quantum methods for capturing hydrophobic interactions with an experiment on 54 qubits. These results mark significant progress in the application of quantum computing to chemical problems, paving the way for more accurate modelling of noncovalent interactions in complex systems critical to the biological, chemical and pharmaceutical sciences. Simulation of N2 triple bond breaking using quantum-centric supercomputer (IBM, University of Colorado and RIKEN)90Electronic structure problems in chemistry offer practical use cases around the hundred-qubit mark. The authors simulated molecular nitrogen triple bond breaking using a Fugaku supercomputer and an IBM quantum processor in a “quantum-centric supercomputing” architecture. The results show that such an architecture can produce good approximate solutions for practical chemistry simulation problems. Embracing the Quantum Economy: A Pathway for Business Leaders 52