CCRM and CCRM Nordic AB have announced a strategic collaboration with IonQ, a key player in quantum computing technologies, designed to drive innovation at the nexus of advanced therapies and quantum computing. The partnership includes an initial investment commitment by IonQ to fuel joint initiatives across the global network of emerging CCRM hubs.
The collaboration will focus on identifying and developing significant, high-impact use cases where quantum computing can transform the development, delivery and scalability of advanced therapies, according to officials at both companies. By bringing together CCRM’s expertise in next-generation therapeutic innovation and IonQ’s leadership in cutting-edge quantum computational technologies, the partnership aims to address some of the most pressing challenges in health care and life sciences, says Michael May, president and CEO of CCRM.
Leverage CCRM’s global network of academic researchers
“By combining our strengths,” he continues “we are uniquely positioned to unlock solutions that were previously beyond reach. Just as CCRM focused on biomanufacturing 15 years ago, this frontier-of-science collaboration will help accelerate the discovery and application of advanced therapies, with the potential to make a real difference for patients worldwide.”
“IonQ’s quantum technologies are poised to reshape industries, and health care is one of the most exciting frontiers,” states Niccolo de Masi, chairman and CEO of IonQ. “Together with CCRM and its partners, we will explore and deliver breakthrough applications that will transform therapeutic development, manufacturing, and access.”
The collaboration with IonQ will leverage CCRM’s global network of academic researchers, industry partners and investors, and its venture studio—Venture by Design—“to ideate, incubate and invest in promising new platforms and ventures that will leverage data, artificial intelligence (AI) and computational horsepower to drive the frontier of medicine,” explained a CCRM spokesperson.
Advanced biomanufacturing is one of the key areas of focus of the partnership, as reducing the cost of advanced therapies will ultimately enable access to potential cures for millions of patients. For this approach, CCRM will leverage existing relationships with its CDMO subsidiary OmniaBio. and Cytiva, to enable transformative manufacturing, analytics, and logistics use cases for quantum computing.
CCRM will emulate the center of excellence that it established with Cytiva in 2016, around biomanufacturing, to establish the DeepTech Bio LabTM with IonQ, creating an industry and academic consortium and workspace to leverage data and test technologies, models, and platforms that apply deep tech to life science applications. In essence, this will be a re-evaluation of the promise of biotech, with a primary focus on the convergence of “tech” and “bio.”
This partnership will also leverage IonQ’s presence in both Sweden and Canada, where two key hubs in the CCRM global network are located. IonQ employs a team at its office in the Toronto-Waterloo corridor, established through its acquisition of Entangled Networks in 2023. CCRM is headquartered in Toronto’s Discovery District within the MaRS building alongside ten research hospitals and the University of Toronto. Similarly, existing IonQ partner AstraZeneca is co-located with CCRM Nordic at the GoCo Health Innovation City in Gothenburg, Sweden. To catalyze activities in Sweden, IonQ may join the growing CCRM Nordic industry consortium.
“As the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova has identified quantum and biotechnology as important strategic technologies for Sweden, we are very excited to enter this collaboration,” says Fredrik Wessberg, CEO of CCRM Nordic. “This partnership will develop strong synergies between these areas and accelerate the development of new products and services that can increase competitiveness and impact patient outcomes globally.”
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