The Milton Park team talks to TreQ about how bespoke quantum systems could transform the life sciences industry and cut drug discovery timelines from ten years to one.
A ‘byte’ of the cherry
For TreQ’s CEO and Founder, Mandy Birch, the journey into quantum began over a decade ago, when she saw an opportunity to start a different kind of company that manufactures and operates bespoke, open-architecture quantum computing systems.
Mandy Birch, CEO and Founder of TreQ, commented: “When we first started, it was the early days of quantum, there was no supply chain, companies had to build everything in-house and they couldn’t count on anyone outside. Since 2020, we’ve seen the supply chain and this ecosystem begin to flourish.”
Now, TreQ’s team members are putting their global experiences at places like NASA, Apple and Cisco to the test, engineering quantum computing systems, in a growing market which is predicted to reach £55 billion globally by 2035.
Making a quantum leap
In October 2024, TreQ officially made Milton Park its home, moving into its own manufacturing facility at the Park. While the company doesn’t manufacture components or software, TreQ brings together existing technologies and engineers them to work together seamlessly, often in ways that have never been done before.
The coolest thing in the universe?
Some of the quantum machine’s components, including its chip, are very sensitive to even the smallest amounts of ambient heat or radiation, which the qubits see as noise. As a result, the team must operate the device at incredibly low temperatures to reduce interference.
Nathan Woollett, Principal Engineer, said: “We need to get the machine’s components down to four degrees above absolute zero. It’s quite literally one of the coolest things you could work with!
“These temperatures don’t exist in the universe outside of research laboratories on earth. Unless there are aliens doing the same thing, of course!”
Transforming research and development
TreQ’s quantum computing systems have the potential to transform industries like life sciences. Unlike classical computers, quantum technology can effectively simulate lab experiments and accurately model molecules and chemistry, enabling research teams to refine hypotheses and accelerate discoveries.
Joseph Rahamim, Director of Systems Engineering at TreQ, commented: “Modelling molecules and chemistry is something classical computers really struggle with. Huge companies rely on wet bench research, which consists of chemists mixing chemicals, just to understand what happens when they combine them.
“Nature isn’t classical; it’s quantum. And a quantum computer can mimic those interactions much more effectively.”
Unlike traditional computers which perform calculations sequentially, quantum computers can solve currently intractable problems and perform calculations simultaneously in parallel. This breakthrough has the potential to accelerate innovation at an unprecedented rate.
Gibson added: “In drug discovery, for example, it could take the process from ten years to just one. Imagine the revolution that could bring to healthcare.”
Powering up for the future
For TreQ, Milton Park is more than just a place to work, it’s a place to grow.
Mandy commented: “We don’t see ourselves outgrowing Milton Park, there are so many different facilities here that we can expand into as our company grows. There’s fantastic infrastructure as we scale up to more data centre-like operations. We anticipate needing more power and low latency bandwidth, and all that connectivity is right here.”
Having the potential to disrupt and redefine entire industries, TreQ’s cutting-edge systems could tackle real-world challenges and drive groundbreaking advancements.
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