Boehringer Ingelheim has joined the Quantum Technology and Application Consortium (QUTAC) as a founding member. The consortium unites ten of German companies from the fields of chemistry and pharmaceuticals as well as the insurance business and automotive industry. Their aim is to bring quantum computing to large-scale industrial applications. In doing so, the founding members want to advance this technology in the German and European market.
“As part of QUTAC, we will contribute to further advance the research for industrial solutions in the field of quantum computing,” said Michael Schmelmer, Member of the Board of Managing Directors of Boehringer Ingelheim with responsibility for Finance and Group Functions. “Together with our partners at QUTAC, we want to create the basis for an efficient use of the quantum computing potential in the future. Even though it may still take some years until this technology is ready for industrial use, we need to define and explore a variety of specific use-cases across several industries now.”
In terms of the pharmaceutical industry, quantum computing has an enormous potential for research and development, the consortium says. Quantum computers can simulate and compare much larger molecular structures. This could have significant implications for early research processes. By speeding up and optimising these early research processes, future stages of research and development could also see additional positive outcomes.
Boehringer considers the investment into quantum community a long-term investment. Schmelmer said: “Last year, we set up a dedicated Quantum Lab to explore specific applications for pharmaceutical research and development. Apart from these internal developments, partnerships with academia and the industry play an important role.” This follows a research partnership with Google Quantum AI the company announced in January 2021. Together with QUTAC, Boehringer Ingelheim wants to explore further applications for quantum computing.