After a $55 million series D last year, ORIC Pharmaceuticals is taking the next inevitable step: an IPO, as it looks to trial drug-resistant cancers.
ORIC, which stands for overcoming resistance in cancer, is working on a pipeline of drugs aimed at quashing treatment-resistant cancers and will, with its previous funding rounds, help funnel its lead asset through phase 1b and into phase 2 and move its second program, ORIC-533—a small molecule inhibitor of CD73—into the clinic from 2021.
ORIC’s lead drug, ORIC-101, is an antagonist of the glucocorticoid receptor, which has been linked to resistance to multiple types of cancer treatments in several types of solid tumors.
The drug is in phase 1b testing in combination with various cancer treatments, including chemo drug Abraxane and prostate cancer med Xtandi, as well as in combo with a checkpoint inhibitor, all in solid tumors, with early data slated for next year.
In its SEC-1 filing, ORIC says it will simply trade as "ORIC" on the Nasdaq as it guns for $86 million. This is a brave move given the current anxiety of all markets amid the spread of COVID-19 around the world and the volatility it's creating.
ORIC is confident, however, and comes backed by a strong recruiting spree over the past 18 months, including last summer nabbing Genentech veteran Lori Friedman, Ph.D., as its chief scientific officer, a move that followed its hiring of Ignyta alums Pratik Multani, M.D., and Edna Chow Maneval, Ph.D., as chief medical officer and senior vice president of clinical development, respectively.
In November 2018, the San Francisco-based company picked up its chief business officer, Matt Panuwat, who had led business development at Prothena and Medivation.