CAMBRIDGE, Mass.– a new type of pharmaceutical company committed to developing and delivering important new medicines to patients at radically lower prices, today announced the appointment of Richard Buckley as chief corporate affairs officer. Rich joins EQRx with more than 20 years of global government affairs and corporate communications experience within the pharmaceutical industry, most recently serving as vice president of global corporate affairs at AstraZeneca and president of the AstraZeneca Healthcare Foundation. Rich will serve on EQRx’s senior leadership team and report to president and chief operating officer Melanie Nallicheri.
“Rich has an impressive breadth of global government affairs and communications experience across the pharma sector, and I’m thrilled to welcome him to our senior leadership team,” said Melanie Nallicheri, president and chief operating officer of EQRx. “He’s joining our team at a particularly exciting time, having recently announced our proposed combination with CM Life Sciences III to become a publicly traded company. Rich will play a crucial role as we continue to scale the organization, amplify our story, create new partnerships and execute on our mission of making affordable drug pricing a reality.”
Rich joins EQRx following 17 years at AstraZeneca in government and corporate affairs positions of increasing responsibility. During his tenure at AstraZeneca, Rich was responsible for reputation management, external and internal communications, policy and government affairs, patient advocacy and philanthropy globally. Before joining AstraZeneca, Rich was director of federal government affairs at Eli Lilly and Company, legislative counsel at PhRMA and an assistant parliamentarian in the United States Senate. He received his J.D. from American University Law School and his B.A. in political science from Boston College.
“The opportunity at EQRx is truly exciting: the time is now to engage patients, healthcare providers, payers and policymakers to make innovative medicines at radically lower prices a reality for the benefit of all,” commented Rich Buckley, chief corporate affairs officer of EQRx. “I look forward to joining this team of healthcare veterans committed to reimagining medicine for both patients and society.”
