EQRx acquired by Revolution Medicines: the low-cost drug experiment ends

What happened: EQRx, the drug-pricing challenger founded in 2020 with $200M to develop cheaper copycat medicines, was acquired by Revolution Medicines, which announced completion of the acquisition on its investor site. EQRx went public in 2022 via a SPAC and raised heavily for its low-cost-drug mission. According to the startups.rip post-mortem, the buyer acquired EQRx's cash and ended its pipeline: as clinical evidence changed the economics of EQRx's copycat strategy, the drugs in development were wound down rather than advanced.

Why it matters: EQRx was the highest-profile attempt to sell me-too drugs at steep discounts to US list prices. The deal ended that experiment — the company's assets and balance sheet were absorbed by Revolution Medicines while the pipeline was discontinued. The acquisition was announced by Revolution Medicines, with coverage of the wind-down in FierceBiotech and BioCentury.

Read more: startups.rip