Boehringer Ingelheim

Boehringer Ingelheim joined the Quantum Technology and Application Consortium (QUTAC) as a founding member. This consortium unites ten of the leading German companies from the fields of chemistry and pharmaceuticals as well as from the insurance business and the automotive industry. Their aim is to take quantum computing to the level of large-scale industrial application. In doing so, the founding members want to make a significant contribution 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,” says 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. Quantum computers could accurately simulate and compare much larger molecular structures. This could have significant implications for early research processes in which Boehringer Ingelheim already enjoys a high level of expertise. By speeding up and optimizing these early research processes, future stages of research and development could also see additional positive outcomes. Therefore, quantum computing could open up entirely new possibilities for pharmaceutical innovation and therapies for a wide range of diseases.

For Boehringer Ingelheim, the investment into the research of quantum computing is thus a long-term investment, as Michael Schmelmer explains: “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 is why Boehringer Ingelheim already announced a research partnership with Google Quantum AI in January 2021. Both companies conduct fundamental research. Together with QUTAC, Boehringer Ingelheim wants to explore further applications for quantum computing.