On May 8, 2023 ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ORIC), a clinical stage oncology company focused on developing treatments that address mechanisms of therapeutic resistance, reported its financial results and operational updates for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 (Press release, ORIC Pharmaceuticals, MAY 8, 2023, View Source [SID1234631171]).

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"We continue to execute and make strong progress in advancing our novel oncology pipeline," said Jacob M. Chacko, MD, chief executive officer. "At the 2023 AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) meeting, we presented promising preclinical data highlighting our comprehensive biomarker strategy for ORIC-944, our allosteric PRC2 inhibitor, and preclinical data for our PLK4 program, demonstrating the potential of highly selective PLK4 inhibition as a synthetic lethal approach for TRIM37 amplified cancers. Our three clinical programs are enrolling steadily and we look forward to reporting initial clinical data from our ongoing studies in the second half of 2023."

First Quarter 2023 and Other Recent Highlights

ORIC-533: a highly potent, orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of CD73

Enrolling a Phase 1b trial of ORIC-533 as a single-agent, in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
Expect to report initial Phase 1b data for ORIC-533 in the second half of 2023.
ORIC-114: a brain penetrant, orally bioavailable, irreversible EGFR/HER2 inhibitor

Enrolling a Phase 1b trial of ORIC-114 as a single-agent, in patients with advanced solid tumors with EGFR and HER2 exon 20 alterations or HER2 amplifications, including patients with CNS metastases that are either treated or untreated but asymptomatic.
Expect to report initial Phase 1b data for ORIC-114 in the second half of 2023.
ORIC-944: a potent and selective allosteric inhibitor of PRC2

Enrolling a Phase 1b trial of ORIC-944 as a single-agent, in patients with advanced prostate cancer.
Presented preclinical data highlighting a comprehensive biomarker strategy for the ongoing Phase 1b trial in metastatic prostate cancer at the 2023 AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting.
Expect to report initial Phase 1b data for ORIC-944 in the second half of 2023.
Discovery Pipeline:

Presented preclinical data confirming the therapeutic potential of highly selective PLK4 inhibition as a synthetic lethal therapy for TRIM37 amplified breast cancers at the 2023 AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting.
First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Investments: Cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $208.9 million as of March 31, 2023, which the company expects will be sufficient to fund its operating plan into the first half of 2025.

R&D Expenses: Research and development (R&D) expenses were $19.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, compared to $16.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, an increase of $2.7 million. The increase was due to a net increase in external expenses related to the advancement of product candidates and discovery programs, as well as higher personnel costs.

G&A Expenses: General and administrative (G&A) expenses were $6.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, compared to $6.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, a decrease of $0.3 million.