EQRx is a biotechnology company with a bold goal of creating great medicines at dramatically lower prices. They aren’t looking to produce generics or biosimilar drugs. Rather, the company looks to bring forward new, high-quality, patentable medicines that are more affordable and sustainable.
Melanie Nallicheri, President and Chief Operating Officer for EQRx, answered our questions about the bold goals of her company, their culture, and the way the Covid-19 pandemic has affected their business.
Melanie Nallicheri: EQRx is taking everything we know about science, technology and therapeutic development, and building an innovative business model to make the drug development process more efficient than ever before. We aim to launch our first medicine within five years, and to have at least ten approved medicines in ten years, along with two dozen more in development. Starting with this goal in mind allows us to build a fundamentally different kind of company, capable of disrupting the unsustainable status quo in healthcare.
Comparably: How has this pandemic shifted the way your business operates, and how have your people responded to the crisis?
MN: We, like many other companies, have moved to a work-from-home model. Our infrastructure allows us to continue to connect virtually through Zoom meetings and Microsoft Team chats. We’re actively hiring, so we also use Zoom to hold interviews and new members of our team are going through onboarding virtually. Our employees and candidates have been very flexible—we want people to feel comfortable to #ComeAsQAre and #BeYouAtEQ, as we like to say. You can read more about this in this from our head of talent branding on LinkedIn.
Comparably: What are you most proud of that your company has achieved over the last year?
MB: EQRx launched publicly in January of 2020, and we believe our approach is a significant first for people and healthcare systems in developed nations around the world. EQRx is a first-of-a-kind company that plans to revolutionize the way medicines are discovered, developed, and brought to people. EQRx aims to create high-quality, patent-protected, new medicines at prices that are radically lower and therefore more equitable for people and sustainable for society. EQRx stands for equal access to cutting-edge medicines by pricing them more equitably.
As a new company, we are building our team and have already gathered some amazingly talented people. We are assembling leading experts in healthcare to make this mission a reality. Our founders and advisors are pioneers in discovery, development, clinical science and data science, as well as thought leaders on healthcare delivery and pricing. We are funded by a diverse group of blue-chip, sophisticated, knowledgeable experts and seasoned life sciences investors who believe in our mission.
Comparably: How would you describe your workplace culture, and what attributes are you looking for when determining who gets hired there?
MN: We’re working to remake medicine and challenging the status quo in drug development. We believe there’s a better way, so we are building a team of disrupters, warriors, champions and dreamers to help us.
We believe in a “culture-add” approach to hiring, which brings together a group of people with diverse backgrounds and diverse thought. That diversity of thought, coupled with a culture that supports the sharing of ideas, can help the team find creative solutions to some of the tough problems we’re trying to solve for patients.
We’ve actually just launched a monthly podcast called “How Do You EQ?” on which we’ll discuss how to build, grow and cultivate innovative companies with a people-first, patient-centric approach. We’ll be talking with people both within EQRx and from other companies who we consider thoughtful culture-builders and innovative thinkers in the world of work. Check it out!
Comparably: Are there any guiding principles that you or your company live by?
MN: There are several meanings of our company name – we mentioned equal access above. Another meaning is the emotional quotient that we are bringing to our work. We want to put EQ back in industry that is so well known for IQ. Our entire team—from investors to employees—is making a social contract, or a promise to uphold our mission of bringing new medicines to people at lower prices. It is a big, bold goal, and we need everyone onboard to get there.
We are driven by our company values:
- Be Engaged and be your best. We value authenticity, passion, and collaboration.
- Challenge the status Quo. Dare to imagine audacious ideas that can be a positive catalyst for change.
- Responsibility is Revolutionary. Our actions are socially, personally and financially responsible.
- Embrace the eXperience and focus on the journey. We will advance as individuals, as professionals and as a team by putting our mission above all else.
Comparably: What has been the biggest challenge to overcome as a business, and how did you rise to the occasion?
MN: We are taking on one of the biggest challenges of our time as a business: access to affordable medicine. Disruption has happened across industries from aviation to retail to telecom, but healthcare has remained relatively unchanged despite enormous efficiencies and technological advances. This is where EQRx comes in—we are a purpose-built disruptor at scale, meaning that we are looking at the entire process of drug discovery, development, manufacturing and commercialization to find innovative step-changes within both the process and the business model to improve efficiency and lower costs. Over time, this standard will allow us to accelerate even faster.
We are re-engineering how medicines are created, proven to work, and brought to patients by:
- Focusing on known biology, starting in oncology and autoimmune diseases and expanding into other areas over time;
- Removing barriers that prevent patients from getting medicines through early and deep partnerships across the healthcare system;
- Integrating data science into discovery and development.
All of this allows us to bring medicines to patients in an incredibly more efficient way.
Comparably: What are some of the best practices you and your staff do to stay connected, in general and in times of crisis?
MN: We’ve implemented some initiatives to keep our team connected as we’re all working remotely:
- I send out weekly newsletters to keep people informed and connected, as well as a Mindful Monday content series, a weekly email in which we share an assortment of inspiration for mental health – exercise, recipes, creative outlets, tips for comfort, TV show binging and resources for the kids.
- We’ve also implemented “T3Os” – Tuesday and Thursday Time Off, one hour, twice a week during the workday where everyone takes a break from work. No emails, no chats, no computers!
- Fireside chats and Town Halls with our leadership team to encourage a dialogue about the business, encourage connection and keep people informed.
- And, we always try to work in a bit of fun through our themed Virtual Happy Hours (think: “Mad Hatter” hat theme and Pictionary), a Pets TEAMS channel, and an all company channel where we share fun content.
Comparably: Would you like to share anything else?
MN: When you are looking to disrupt an industry, you need equally bold and disruptive talent. We’re looking for the changemakers, the disruptors, the dreamers, and the social good warriors; people who are experts in their field and who think there might be a better way.
Creating change is a challenging endeavor, and it’s not for everyone. It’s the diversity of thought, experience, and passion that will allow us to make a real impact at the rapid pace that we aspire to. While building the team, we take the time to assess each individual’s addition to the culture—we count on each person to bring their unique perspective to work each day as we all work together towards this audacious mission.
We have a bold mission and are looking for equally bold people who want to join us and help make a difference in the world.
For more information about EQRx, visit https://www.eqrx.com/
