From physics to pharma: How Aqemia is reinventing the future of medicines

The UK life sciences sector has long been a crucible for innovation, blending academic excellence with a thriving ecosystem of biotech and pharmaceutical enterprises. It is a landscape where fundamental research meets translational ambition, and it is a setting that has nurtured breakthroughs from the sequencing of the human genome to the rise of AI-driven drug discovery.

As the Jefferies Healthcare conference gets underway this week in London, pharmaphorum had the chance to connect with the CEO and co-founder of a start-up at the heart of this ethos of transformation: Maximilien Levesque of Aqemia.

Aqemia was founded in 2019, born from the ambitious idea that theoretical quantum physics and advanced mathematics can unlock new frontiers in medicine. According to Levesque, a former professor of statistical and quantum physics at the École normale supérieure in Paris – who co-founded the company with Emmanuelle Martiano Rolland and whose resume includes time working at France’s CEA – Aqemia is not just another start-up dabbling in AI. Rather, it is a testament to the power of fundamental research; research that began in the lecture halls of Paris and matured in the intellectual crucibles of Oxford and Cambridge.

From mathematical equations to molecules

Levesque’s journey is emblematic of the serendipity that often defines scientific progress. While working on an equation known for decades, yet never solved – the so-called Molecular Ornstein-Zernike (MOZ) equation – he cracked a problem that had stumped researchers for 40 years. That solution, which earned him a prestigious physics prize in 2017 from the American Institute of Physics, attracted the keen interest of the life sciences sector and became the seed for Aqemia’s technology: a generative AI platform that learns not from datasets, but from the very laws of physics.

In an era where data scarcity (and quality) remains the elephant in the room for pharma, Aqemia’s approach bypasses the limitations of conventional machine learning. By embedding physical context at the atomic scale, its algorithms can simulate billions of potential molecules virtually, and at a fraction of the cost and time of brute-force supercomputing. The result? A pipeline of wholly novel compounds, unshackled from the biases of existing chemical libraries. Indeed, the start-up has three preclinical assets already demonstrating superior efficacy and safety in animal models.

Scaling up: Partnerships and UK presence

Since its founding in 2019, Aqemia has grown to a 70-strong team of creative physicists, mathematicians, and engineers, also forging collaborations with industry heavyweights such as Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, Servier, and Roche. Its partnership with Sanofi alone, just over a year old and valued at up to €150 million, underscores the confidence in its physics-driven approach to small-molecule drug discovery across therapeutic areas, including CNS disorders.

The UK has played a pivotal role in this story. Levesque speaks warmly of his time in Oxford and Cambridge, where open-ended research and intellectual freedom allowed him to pursue ideas without immediate commercial pressure. That ethos of curiosity-driven science is what Aqemia seeks to replicate in its new London office, opened in February this year and already with a team of 15 people, in the Knowledge Quarter at King’s Cross, “quite literally” opposite the Eurostar. They are currently looking to expand that team further, too.

Moonshots against cancer

For Aqemia, the ambition is clear: to re-architect drug discovery for diseases where the need is greatest. Its “moonshot” strategy – launching multiple synergistic programs against a single indication – aims to tilt the odds in a field notorious for attrition. Targets like pancreatic cancer are firmly in its sights.

As the Jefferies Healthcare Conference kicks off in earnest, Levesque is energised by the prospect of connecting with peers, investors, and partners: “It’s one of the most important moments for us,” he says. “We need these ecosystems to gather from time to time – to share what’s happening, who does what, and where the next breakthroughs will come from.”

And what of that future? For Levesque, it is an arrossment both scientific and human.

“I’m eager to see this flower bloom,” he says of Aqemia’s UK presence. “I see a bright future – not just for us, but for academia and life sciences here. If anyone wants to join, we are recruiting more than 50 people globally in the coming year.”

It is an invitation, and a vision, that speaks to the enduring power of ideas, nurtured in the fertile soil of fundamental research; now blossoming into hope for patients worldwide.