Boca Raton-based biotechnology company INmune Bio is bringing quantum computing into the fight against Alzheimer's disease through a new partnership with New Jersey-based Quantum Computing Inc.
The collaboration will combine quantum optimization, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics to explore whether existing clinical research data can reveal new treatment opportunities. For Quantum Computing Inc., the agreement also marks its first commercial customer in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector, offering a potential proving ground for quantum technology in drug discovery.
INmune Bio’s existing clinical and preclinical research data have the ability to identify additional diseases and patients that could potentially benefit from the company’s drug, XPro1595, also known simply as XPro. One of the aspects of XPro includes identification of biomarkers and treatment-response patterns. XPro’s inflammation-reducing features have the potential to find additional populations that could benefit from the drug in future clinical studies.
The partnership is Quantum Computing Inc.’s first commercial pharmaceutical and biotechnology customer. Its entry into a new commercial market for quantum optimization technology could demonstrate the ability for computing applications in drug research.
From this potential, there could be additional industry partnerships that could help with other research projects. The collaboration brings quantum optimization into biotechnology research, testing whether advanced computing can uncover insights that conventional analytical methods may miss.
Inside INmune Bio's Alzheimer's Research
Founded in 2015, Boca Raton-based INmune Bio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapies that target the body's innate immune system. Its pipeline includes investigational treatments for Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and rare skin conditions including INKmune, an immunotherapy designed to activate natural killer cells, and CORDStrom, a cell-based therapy targeting recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB).
At the center of the company's new partnership with Quantum Computing Inc. is XPro1595, also known as XPro, an investigational therapy designed to selectively inhibit soluble tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a protein involved in inflammation. INmune Bio is studying whether reducing neuroinflammation could help slow disease progression in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
As previously reported, INmune Bio's XPro received FDA Fast Track designation in May 2026, marking an important milestone in the company's Alzheimer's research. Although the therapy remains investigational, the company's growing body of clinical data now provides a foundation for exploring additional treatment opportunities through its quantum computing partnership.
"We've built a large clinical dataset on Alzheimer’s and other diseases, backed by years of work with XPro," said David Moss, Chief Executive Officer of INmune Bio. "This collaboration allows us to examine patient populations and biomarkers most likely to predict responses by analyzing large data sets. We'll look for the diseases with the greatest potential for success, those whose human biology matches what we've already seen XPro do, starting with rare diseases where trials can be smaller, faster and more capital-efficient, and where qualifying pediatric approvals may earn a Priority Review Voucher."
Through the partnership, INmune Bio hopes to leverage quantum optimization and artificial intelligence to analyze its existing research data, identify potential biomarkers and treatment-response patterns, and uncover new opportunities for XPro beyond its current clinical development program.
How Quantum Computing and AI Could Advance Drug Discovery
Quantum Computing Inc. develops quantum and photonics-based technologies. One goal is that its Dirac-3S platform will apply its quantum optimization machine to biomedical datasets. This machine will be an essential component of the partnership. It is an optimization machine that is designed to address complex problems that involve many possible variables.
Unlike traditional computing approaches that evaluate complex optimization problems through conventional algorithms, quantum-inspired and specialized quantum optimization systems are designed to explore large numbers of possible solutions. In pharmaceutical research, the goal is to determine whether these methods can identify meaningful relationships among biomarkers, patient characteristics, and treatment responses more efficiently or effectively than existing analytical tools.
Biomedical research, such as INmune’s Alzheimer’s disease research, often involves large numbers of interconnected biological factors. The two companies are exploring whether quantum optimization can identify useful relationships in these datasets. The quantum optimization will be combined with artificial intelligence and conventional statistical analysis to evaluate the clinical and biomedical data. The analytical approaches will examine the relationship between biological markers and the patients’ characteristics.
"This is a great example of what practical quantum computing can look like today," said Yuping Huang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of QCi. "INmune Bio has a complex scientific problem and a substantial body of clinical and biological data. Our job is to bring new computing capabilities to that problem and see what we can learn. The potential to help researchers make better decisions about future treatments is exciting, and it opens an important new market for QCi."
Technology integration: Quantum optimization will be combined with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and conventional statistical analysis to evaluate clinical and biomedical data. If it is determined that quantum optimization provides analytical value, it opens the door to potentially identifying new treatment opportunities.
The outcome could also help the companies determine which clinical developments warrant further investigation and prioritize research directions that look promising. They could have the ability to develop more targeted clinical trial planning. If achieved, trials could be approved faster, and more money can be saved.
If meaningful advantages can be achieved, there can be greater commercial implications.
What Future Applications Could Look Like for the Partners
There are potential benefits for both companies. The partnership could help INmune Bio make better decisions about future clinical research and prioritize developmental opportunities. Access to specialized quantum optimization technology has the potential to find additional information from existing research data.
Being able to use investigative therapies like XPro1595 and find new uses for the drug could quicken the process of getting FDA-approved treatments to patients. INmune Bio can also focus on other areas or diseases to combat. With more knowledge about the therapies, the company can make better decisions for future drug development strategies and can explore other clinical and commercial outcomes.
Quantum Computing Inc. also has the ability to benefit from the partnership. The collaboration with INmune Bio is the company’s first commercial pharmaceutical and biotechnology customer. If the partnership has successful outcomes, it could create more opportunities for the company to use its technology and apply it to biomedical research.
Positive outcomes also have the ability to validate the Dirac-3S platform for specialized pharmaceutical research tasks, which could increase chances to establish relationships with other biotech companies.
For the partnership structure, there will be different stages for collaboration.
Stage 1 will be for initial research. Quantum optimization and AI will be used to analyze INmune Bio’s existing clinical and preclinical data involving XPro1595. The information will be used to determine whether there could be potential new uses for the drugs. The quantum computing results will be compared to traditional data analysis methods. From there, the companies will evaluate whether the technology provides useful information.
Depending on the outcome of Stage 1, future stages and expanded collaborations could include exploring additional research questions and treatment applications. The companies will need to decide whether further investment in quantum computing research is worthwhile. Any future stages will be based on the initial findings from Stage 1.
The broader pharmaceutical industry implications could create new approaches to pharmaceutical research when combining quantum optimization.
The growing interest in advanced computational approaches to drug discovery could help to simplify complex biological datasets. AI could be used more in research opportunities and applications in clinical data analysis. Commercial adoption is dependent on measurable advantages over the traditional approaches.
South Florida's Role in Biotechnology Innovation
As the demand for commercial uses of biomedical and pharmaceutical research continues to grow, partnerships such as INmune Bio and Quantum Computing Inc. signal the emerging presence of South Florida as a global tech hub.
The region’s increasing biotechnology and life sciences industry development is an example of the progress that South Florida has made. Collaboration across industries demonstrates how South Florida can harness its biotech through national partnerships, while also still pursuing pharmaceutical research and commercialization.
The partnership has the ability to bring even greater attention to South Florida’s biotechnology capabilities and allow regional companies to access specialized technologies through partnerships throughout the country.
These commercial research opportunities could contribute to South Florida’s larger innovation economy. The partnership illustrates the role of collaboration in advancing emerging technologies.
Boca Raton-based INmune Bio is partnering with Quantum Computing Inc. to explore how quantum optimization and artificial intelligence could unlock new opportunities in Alzheimer's drug research, advancing the intersection of biotechnology, emerging technology, and South Florida innovation.