Xanadu collaborates with University of Alberta on quantum computing for cancer drug discovery

CANADA—Xanadu Quantum Technologies and the University of Alberta have entered a research partnership to develop quantum computing algorithms that could accelerate the discovery of new cancer treatments.

The collaboration will focus on designing next-generation photosensitisers for photodynamic therapy (PDT), a treatment that uses light-activated drugs to target and destroy tumour cells.

The partners aim to develop quantum computing tools that can help researchers better understand the molecular processes that determine how these compounds work.

The project brings together Xanadu’s quantum algorithms team and Alex Brown, a chemistry professor at the University of Alberta.

Together, they will develop a quantum computing framework to address some of the challenges involved in discovering and designing new photosensitisers.

Currently, researchers identify potential photosensitisers through laboratory experiments and classical computer simulations.

However, these approaches can be time-consuming and expensive, while some simulations struggle to accurately capture complex molecular interactions that influence how the compounds behave.

Xanadu has recently reported results from using quantum computers to simulate light-matter interactions in photosensitiser compounds.

The work examined properties including how compounds respond to specific wavelengths of light and how efficiently they initiate processes that can lead to cancer cell death.

Applying quantum computing to drug discovery

Xanadu founder and CEO Dr Christian Weedbrook said several challenges make developing effective photosensitizers difficult using conventional approaches.

“By leveraging early fault-tolerant quantum computers to model critical light-matter interactions within photosensitisers, we are positioning quantum computing as a highly competitive method for accelerating photodynamic drug discovery,” he said.

Photosensitisers present particular challenges because their effectiveness depends on excited-state processes that standard computational techniques can struggle to model accurately, according to Brown.

“By combining Xanadu’s quantum algorithm expertise with our experience in modelling photodynamic therapy systems, we are excited to explore how fault-tolerant quantum computing could provide new tools for understanding and designing more effective light-activated cancer treatments,” Brown said.

Expanding quantum-based drug design

The partnership will also support expanding Xanadu’s quantum-based drug design workflow to address increasingly complex problems in photosensitiser development.

As part of the collaboration, Brown will investigate the molecular mechanisms that influence therapeutic effectiveness in photodynamic therapy.

The findings will help the research teams assess how quantum computing can model these mechanisms and identify characteristics associated with more effective photosensitisers.

The partners will therefore combine expertise in quantum algorithms, chemistry and photodynamic therapy to explore computational approaches for designing light-activated compounds.

Their work will focus on improving the understanding of the molecular interactions that underpin photosensitiser performance and could inform the development of future PDT candidates. 

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