D-Wave Quantum announced a non-binding collaboration with South Korea’s LG CNS to develop and commercialize quantum-computing applications for business optimization. Separately, D-Wave customer Shionogi won a ¥40 million prize for research using quantum computing in drug discovery.
The announcements highlight two potential applications for D-Wave’s annealing technology: enterprise optimization and pharmaceutical research. Neither announcement includes a financial commitment to D-Wave.
LG CNS collaboration
- D-Wave and LG CNS plan to combine D-Wave’s annealing quantum-computing technology with LG CNS’s expertise in industry, mathematical optimization and systems integration.
- The goal is to move applications beyond proof-of-concept work and toward production use, for customers in manufacturing, telecommunications, finance and retail.
- The companies also intend to pursue joint sales and marketing opportunities in South Korea and international markets.
- The agreement is a non-binding memorandum of understanding. No investment, contract value, revenue target or deployment timetable was announced.
Shionogi research award
- Shionogi took first place in the Quality of Life category of the NEDO Challenge for research exploring quantum computing in drug discovery.
- The award-winning work included a peer-reviewed study published in Scientific Reports in July 2026. The research combined D-Wave’s annealing technology with a generative AI model for designing molecules.
- In the reported comparison, 97% of the molecular representations generated by the quantum-assisted model were chemically valid, versus 73% from an equivalent classical model. The quantum-assisted model also produced a higher proportion of molecules with strong drug-likeness scores than either the classical model or the training dataset.
- The ¥40 million prize will support Shionogi’s continued research. It was awarded to Shionogi; no payment to D-Wave was announced.
What changes
The LG CNS MOU sets out an intended commercial and technical collaboration, but it does not establish a binding customer contract or guarantee deployments. The Shionogi award recognizes research involving D-Wave technology and funds further work; it is not, by itself, evidence of a commercial drug-discovery product or revenue for D-Wave.