NEC Corporation, Taiho Pharmaceutical, the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research (JFCR), AIST and Waseda University have been selected for a large-scale demonstration project under Japan’s NEDO Research and Development Project for Enhanced Infrastructures for Post-5G Information and Communication Systems.

The joint project will develop a computational and evaluation platform combining quantum computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), drug discovery and immunology to design and validate neoantigen candidates for next-generation cancer immunotherapy.

The project will focus on neoantigens, which are cancer-specific targets that can trigger immune responses. Researchers will particularly examine neoantigen sequences that can induce CD4-positive T-cell responses through MHC class II, an area where systematic methods for sequence design and optimisation remain limited.

AI will be used to predict and score immune responses to potential neoantigens, while quantum computing will support the design and optimisation of amino acid sequences surrounding the neoantigen core. Researchers will then experimentally evaluate the immune responses generated by selected candidates.

Results from these experiments will be fed back into the computational models and AI-based prediction systems, creating an iterative drug discovery process that connects computational design with experimental validation.

The project will run from September 2026 to March 2029 and will use the ABCI-Q computing infrastructure, which integrates quantum computing, high-performance computing and AI and is being developed by AIST’s G-QuAT initiative.

The project aims to demonstrate the application of quantum computing and AI in cancer drug discovery and support the development of diverse neoantigen candidates with improved immunogenic potential.