For its first two medicines, EQRx abandons its bold strategy to lower drug prices

Changing the way cancer drugs are priced in the U.S. is apparently even harder than it sounds.

EQRx, a company founded to upend the costly U.S. system for pricing new drugs, said Thursday it would abandon that goal for the two products that are closest to the market.

The company said that it would “adopt market-based pricing” for aumolertinib, a treatment for non-small lung cancer, and lerociclib, a treatment for breast cancer. That is a stark contrast to the plan that EQRx laid out when it was founded three years ago, when the company’s founder and executive chairman, the venture capitalist Alexis Borisy, said that EQRx’s entire purpose would be to reimagine the way that drug pricing works by working more closely with insurers and health care systems to increase the use of lower-priced drugs.

STAT+ Exclusive Story

Already have an account? Log in

This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers

Unlock this article — plus daily coverage and analysis of the biotech sector — by subscribing to STAT+.

Already have an account? Log in

Already have an account? Log in

Individual plans

Group plans

Monthly

$39

Totals $468 per year

$39/month Get Started

Totals $468 per year

Starter

$30

for 3 months, then $39/month

$30 for 3 months Get Started

Then $39/month

Annual

$399

Save 15%

$399/year Get Started

Save 15%

11+ Users

Custom

Savings start at 25%!

Request A Quote Request A Quote

Savings start at 25%!

2-10 Users

$300

Annually per user

$300/year Get Started

$300 Annually per user

View All Plans

Get unlimited access to award-winning journalism and exclusive events.

Subscribe

Log In