eqrx inc eqrx will lay off 170 people and incur nonrecurring costs of approximately 45  55 million for wind down termination and exit costs eqrx went public in december 2021 via a spac merger the company was founded on the premise that it could dramatically lower drug prices in november the company announced that one of its lead drugs was not commercially viable and would pursue marketbased pricing for two others in february eqrx announced further streamlining expenses including an 18 decrease in the companys workforce by the end of the first quarter of 2023 to approximately 300 employees as part of mondays announcement the company is discontinuing several pipeline candidates it is terminating license agreements for sugemalimab antipdl1 antibody and nofazinlimab antipd1 antibody with chinabased cstone pharmaceuticals eqrx has provided notice to lynk pharmaceuticals lynk of its termination of the license agreement for eq121 janus kinase jak1 inhibitor the company is seeking commercialization partnerships for aumolertinib thirdgeneration egfr inhibitor eqrx plans to separate its earlystage immuneinflammatory ii rd programs from its oncology business into a new whollyowned subsidiary and intends to explore its path as an independent company and pursue additional funding options mondays changes leave eqrx with just one clinical program a cdk46 inhibitor lerociclib it maintains a 13 billion cash position to advance lerociclib through clinical trials portfolio decisions and a substantial reduction in the workforce are expected to drive annualized cash savings of at least 125 million and significantly lower future cash burn going forward eqrx will leverage its significant scale of capital and team of experienced drug hunters towards developing clinically differentiated highvalue medicines ceo melanie nallicheri said