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Fujitsu and Riken to use Fugaku supercomputer for drug discovery

fujitsu Y Riken have launched a joint research project that aims to next-generation drug discovery with the help of technology. Specific, with that of the Fugaku supercomputerwhose functions and capabilities will be used to accelerate the digital transformation in drug discovery, explore promising areas in this field and significantly reduce the development period and costs of developing new drugs.

This project will leverage high-performance computing and Fugaku technologies to accelerate embedded Artificial Intelligence simulation that combines Fujitsu’s DeepTwin AI technology, which accurately acquires quantitative functions from complex data through unsupervised learning, with molecular dynamic simulation. . It does so using Riken’s Artificial Intelligence drug discovery simulation technology.

This approach is expected to improve the accuracy and speed of molecular simulation, and to establish innovative technologies that can predict changes in the structure of target proteins over a wide range. Based on this research, both entities intend to develop an IT-enabled drug discovery technology with world-class capabilities by the end of fiscal year 2026.

Both Fujitsu and Riken anticipate that this technology will perform target protein and molecular complex analysis of drug candidates. It will also predict large-scale structural changes of molecules with high speed and accuracy, with the aim of contributing to the development of medium- and large-molecule drugs, which are expected to have high efficacy and few side effects.

The joint research period began on May 17 and will end on March 31, 2025, although it is scheduled to continue from April 2025. During the period, Fujitsu will be in charge of developing technology to obtain quantitative functions of protein data with unsupervised Artificial Intelligence technology DeepTwin. In addition, it will also develop high-performance computing technology to efficiently integrate and operate molecular dynamics simulation and Artificial Intelligence on the Fugaku supercomputer.

For its part, Riken will develop a new drug discovery simulation technology that reproduces large-scale structural changes with high precision and low computational cost. The development of this technology will combine simulation and Artificial Intelligence, and will experiment for the estimation of various structures.

By the end of 2026, Fujitsu and Riken will harness technology-supported drug discovery technology with the Fugaku supercomputer to create a new technology-enabled drug discovery process that focuses on medium- and large-molecule drugs and share it with pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders in the medical sector.

In addition, Fujitsu will promote initiatives to advance its concept of Healthy Living with its brand. Fujitsu Uvance, with which it intends to advance towards a sustainable future for humanity. As for this joint research, Fujitsu intends to contribute to solving challenges in the medical field by developing technologies that combine its strengths in Artificial Intelligence and High Performance Computing. The company will work in parallel with the research in the creation of use cases in the field of drug discovery to integrate them into its Computing as a Service (CaaS) portfolio, a suite of cloud services that makes available to those who want to use various computer and software technologies.

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