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EQRx funding, valuation and investors
Biotech that licensed and developed lower-cost branded cancer drugs before winding down after Revolution Medicines acquisition.
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Funding, valuation & investors
Answer-first snapshotLatest funding
Series B
$570M · January 2021
Latest known valuation
Not publicly disclosed
Total disclosed equity funding
$770M
Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.
Current status
acquired
acquired · Cambridge, Massachusetts
Latest tracked event: Acquired by Revolution Medicines (November 2023). It is shown separately because it is not counted as disclosed equity funding.
Overview
EQRx launched in January 2020 to develop patent-protected medicines at prices it argued would be dramatically lower than incumbent branded drugs. Rather than inventing molecules from scratch, the Cambridge, Massachusetts company licensed or acquired clinical-stage assets—initially including the PD-L1 inhibitor sugemalimab from C-Stone—and planned a capital-efficient "fast follower" model. FDA feedback requiring U.S. comparative trials for sugemalimab forced program cuts; later pipeline focus shifted to small-molecule oncology assets before layoffs and a strategic review. In November 2023, fellow Borisy company Revolution Medicines acquired EQRx in an all-stock deal valued around $1.07B, primarily to add more than $1 billion in net cash; Revolution said it would wind down EQRx R&D and return IP to partners.
Why EQRx is interesting
Alexis Borisy's "fast follower" pricing thesis raised nearly $2B in venture and SPAC capital, but FDA setbacks on imported trial data and a pivot to market pricing ended with Revolution buying EQRx mainly for its $1B+ cash pile.
Product & use cases
EQRx aimed to in-license or acquire clinical-stage drug candidates and commercialize them at lower list prices than first-in-class competitors, targeting oncology and other high-cost categories. The model depended on capital efficiency and payer-friendly pricing rather than novel discovery.
- Lower-cost branded alternatives to high-price oncology immunotherapies
- Capital-efficient in-licensing of late-stage molecules from global pharma partners
- Payer and health-system contracting for more affordable specialty drugs
Key facts
- Founded Jan 2020 by Alexis Borisy with $200M Series A co-led by GV, ARCH, and a16z (Businesswire)
- Raised ~$1.97B total including $570M Series B and 2021 SPAC listing (PitchBook)
- FDA rejected China-only trial data for sugemalimab, forcing pipeline cuts (MedCity News)
- Acquired Nov 2023 by Revolution Medicines for ~$1.07B; R&D wound down, IP returned to partners (BioPharma Dive)
Funding history (newest first)
Acquired by Revolution Medicines
2023-11 ~$1.07B (all-stock)Source: https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/eqrx-revolution-medicines-acquisition-cancer-drug-pricing/689523/
SPAC merger (CM Life Sciences III)
2021-12 Not disclosedSeries B
2021-01 $570MSeries A
2020-01 $200M- ARCH Venture Partners (lead)
- Andreessen Horowitz (lead)
- GV (lead)
- Casdin Capital (participant)
- Section 32 (participant)
Investors in our directory
Funds linked from EQRx's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.
Competitive landscape
Edge: EQRx's edge was supposed to be balance-sheet scale plus a pricing narrative that could win formulary access without waiting for biosimilar or generic cycles—if regulators and partners accepted the assets.
EQRx competed conceptually with both originator drugmakers and biosimilar specialists, betting that a well-funded startup could undercut prices on me-too or in-licensed assets. Coherus and other biosimilar players had clearer regulatory playbooks. When the FDA rejected EQRx's China-only sugemalimab dataset, the thesis collided with evidence standards incumbents already met. Revolution's acquisition validated the cash and team quality but not the standalone commercial model.
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Revolution Medicines direct
Fellow Borisy-founded oncology company that ultimately acquired EQRx for cash rather than pipeline synergy; now pursues RAS-targeted programs independently.
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Coherus BioSciences direct
Built a business on lower-cost biologics and biosimilars with clearer regulatory paths; EQRx's branded fast-follower thesis proved harder to execute.
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Large pharma incumbents incumbent
Incumbents control originator assets and U.S. trial data EQRx needed; pricing pressure alone did not overcome FDA evidence requirements.
Notable stories
- Alexis Borisy founded EQRx while also backing Revolution Medicines—then sold EQRx to Revolution primarily for cash, not drug assets (Fierce Biotech, 2023).
- EQRx went public via SPAC in December 2021 with a mission to "redefine the business of drug discovery" at lower prices, one of biotech's largest-ever launch rounds (Businesswire).
- Peter Bach, MSK drug-pricing researcher and EQRx co-founder, publicly argued new medicines should be priced for access—a thesis the company later abandoned on remaining assets (BioCentury).
Industries
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