--- title: Shionogi Wins NEDO Award for Quantum-Assisted Drug Discovery description: Shionogi won first place in the Quality of Life category of Japan's NEDO Challenge for quantum-assisted drug discovery research. A peer-reviewed study in... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/shionogi-wins-nedo-award-for-quantum-assisted-drug-discovery-ycmqpvltu twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Shionogi Wins NEDO Award for Quantum-Assisted Drug Discovery | daily.dev og:description: Shionogi won first place in the Quality of Life category of Japan's NEDO Challenge for quantum-assisted drug discovery research. A peer-reviewed study in... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/shionogi-wins-nedo-award-for-quantum-assisted-drug-discovery-ycmqpvltu og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/YcmQPVLtu.png og:image:alt: Shionogi Wins NEDO Award for Quantum-Assisted Drug Discovery og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Shionogi Wins NEDO Award for Quantum-Assisted Drug Discovery **[The Quantum Insider](https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Shionogi won first place in the Quality of Life category of Japan's NEDO Challenge for quantum-assisted drug discovery research. A peer-reviewed study in Scientific Reports, published in July 2026, found a quantum-assisted generative AI model produced 97% chemically valid molecular representations, versus 73% for an equivalent classical model. The quantum-assisted model also generated more molecules with strong drug-likeness scores than both the classical model and the training dataset. The ¥40 million NEDO prize will fund Shionogi's continued work combining D-Wave quantum computing with classical high-performance computing to generate and evaluate drug candidates. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How much better was D-Wave's quantum-assisted generative AI at producing valid drug molecules compared to a classical model? A quantum-assisted generative AI model using D-Wave annealing technology produced molecular representations that were 97% chemically valid, compared with 73% for an equivalent classical model. The study, led by Shionogi researcher Dr. Hayato Kunugi, was published in Scientific Reports in July 2026, and the quantum-assisted model also produced more molecules with strong drug-likeness scores than the classical model or the training dataset. _Teams evaluating quantum versus classical approaches for molecule generation can track results like this on daily.dev._ ### What did Shionogi win the NEDO Challenge award for? Shionogi won first place in the Quality of Life category of Japan's NEDO Challenge for research applying quantum computing to drug discovery, conducted with D-Wave. The ¥40 million award will fund continued research combining D-Wave annealing quantum computing with classical high-performance computing to generate and evaluate drug candidate molecules. _Anyone following quantum computing's path into real-world industry use cases can follow updates like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Quantum computers take on health care: light-sensitive cancer drugs win US$2-million contest](https://daily.dev/posts/quantum-computers-take-on-health-care-light-sensitive-cancer-drugs-win-us-2-million-contest-citzb9qas) · Nature · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Researchers Report Quantum Computing Can Accelerate Drug Design](https://daily.dev/posts/researchers-report-quantum-computing-can-accelerate-drug-design-gp01pycgq) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [How AI helps scientists design the next generation of medicines](https://daily.dev/posts/how-ai-helps-scientists-design-the-next-generation-of-medicines-rsdf6xsgg) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [AI is spitting out more potential drugs than ever. This start-up wants to figure out which ones matter.](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-is-spitting-out-more-potential-drugs-than-ever-this-start-up-wants-to-figure-out-which-ones-matt-usqozoajm) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Researchers: AI Can Learn to Build Quantum Circuits For Drug Molecules, Cutting Design Time by Orders of Magnitude](https://daily.dev/posts/researchers-ai-can-learn-to-build-quantum-circuits-for-drug-molecules-cutting-design-time-by-order-6thdn61eo) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#genai](https://daily.dev/tags/genai), [#quantum-computing](https://daily.dev/tags/quantum-computing) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/shionogi-wins-nedo-award-for-quantum-assisted-drug-discovery-ycmqpvltu) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Shionogi Wins NEDO Award for Quantum-Assisted Drug Discovery","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/shionogi-wins-nedo-award-for-quantum-assisted-drug-discovery-ycmqpvltu","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/shionogi-wins-nedo-award-for-quantum-assisted-drug-discovery-ycmqpvltu"},"datePublished":"2026-10-29T10:12:20.372Z","dateModified":"2026-10-29T10:12:44.364Z","description":"Shionogi won first place in the Quality of Life category of Japan's NEDO Challenge for quantum-assisted drug discovery research. 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