ORIC raises $264M, eyes Phase 3 trials for prostate and lung cancer drugs
What's the deal? ORIC Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage oncology company, has raised $264 million from healthcare specialist funds and reported Phase 1b data for two cancer drugs. The South San Francisco-based firm is developing rinzimetostat for prostate cancer and enozertinib for lung cancer.
Both drugs showed "potential best-in-class" efficacy and safety profiles. Rinzimetostat demonstrated deep tumour marker responses in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients, while enozertinib showed strong systemic and brain-penetrating activity in non-small cell lung cancer patients with specific genetic mutations.
The company ended 2025 with $392 million in cash and investments, enough runway into the second half of 2028.
Why now? ORIC is positioning itself for a pivotal year. It plans to initiate its first global Phase 3 registrational trial for rinzimetostat in the first half of 2026, with multiple clinical data readouts for both drugs expected throughout the year.
The company also announced a clinical trial collaboration with Johnson & JohnsonDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to test enozertinib in combination with an existing cancer treatment.
What could go wrong? ORIC remains loss-making. Its net loss widened to over $130 million for full-year 2025, though quarterly losses have narrowed.
Clinical trial outcomes remain uncertain. Phase 3 trials are significantly larger and more expensive than earlier stages, and many promising drugs fail at this hurdle.
The signal: Specialist healthcare investors are still backing oncology companies with strong early clinical data, even those burning through cash. ORIC's ability to raise $264 million suggests continued appetite for cancer drug development, particularly in resistance mechanisms — treatments that work when standard therapies fail.
The stock has responded accordingly, rising more than 60% year to date.
Sources:
GlobeNewswire
Nasdaq via RTTNews
Yahoo Finance
ORIC Pharmaceuticals
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