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Oric Pharmaceuticals
Jacob Chacko leads Oric Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage oncology firm targeting treatment-resistant cancers. Founded 2014, public since 2020.
Oric Pharmaceuticals
Oric Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, with an additional research site in San Diego. Jacob Chacko serves as President and CEO, while Richard Heyman, a seasoned biotech executive, chairs the board. The firm went public on Nasdaq under the ticker ORIC in April 2020, raising capital to advance its core thesis: that cancers develop resistance to existing therapies through specific, targetable biological mechanisms. The firm's scientific platform is built around understanding these resistance pathways, a focus that distinguishes it from broader oncology players. The firm's pipeline is concentrated on three clinical-stage assets. ORIC-114, a brain-penetrant EGFR/HER2 inhibitor, targets non-small cell lung cancer. ORIC-944, a PRC2 inhibitor, is aimed at metastatic prostate cancer. A third program, an oral PLK4 inhibitor, is in development for breast cancer. The firm runs these programs through internal research, supplemented by strategic collaborations—most notably licensing deals with Taiho Pharmaceutical and Voronoi—to access novel chemical matter. Its geographic footprint centers on US-based clinical trials, though its licensing partners extend the potential reach into Asian markets. As a public biotechnology company, Oric reports financials quarterly. Its deployment is measured in R&D spend rather than invested capital. The firm ended its most recent reporting periods with a cash runway projected into late 2026 or early 2027, funded by its IPO and subsequent follow-on offerings. In February 2025, the firm presented updated clinical data for ORIC-944 at the ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, demonstrating initial safety and pharmacodynamic activity in prostate cancer patients. The company also maintains its corporate headquarters in South San Francisco and a dedicated research laboratory in San Diego, housing a team focused on medicinal chemistry and preclinical biology. Oric's structural differentiator is its single-minded focus on the biology of drug resistance. While most oncology companies pursue cancer-killing drugs, Oric exclusively targets the cellular mechanisms tumors use to evade existing therapies. The firm's pipeline is built on the assumption that combining a resistance inhibitor with a standard-of-care agent can produce more durable patient responses. This narrow aperture creates significant binary risk common to clinical-stage biotech but also means Oric faces limited direct competition within its specific mechanism-of-action niches—a high-risk, high-agency posture that defines the firm's value proposition.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2014
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
South San Francisco
Corporate office
South San Francisco, CA, United States
Additional offices
San Diego, CA, United States
Principals
Jacob Chacko
President and Chief Executive Officer
Richard Heyman
Chairman of the Board
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Is Oric Pharmaceuticals structured as a family office or an operating company?
Oric is an operating company—a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm, not a family office or investment entity. It develops its own drug candidates in-house and is traded publicly on Nasdaq under the ticker ORIC. The firm's capital is deployed directly into its own research programs, not into third-party funds or external portfolio companies.
What is Oric's core scientific focus?
The firm focuses exclusively on the biology of cancer drug resistance. Its pipeline targets specific mechanisms tumors use to evade therapies, including EGFR/HER2 mutations in lung cancer and PRC2 pathways in prostate cancer. The thesis is that by blocking these resistance pathways, Oric's drugs can restore or extend the efficacy of existing treatments.
Who runs investment decisions at Oric?
Oric does not have an investment committee in the traditional allocator sense—capital allocation decisions are corporate R&D budget decisions made by CEO Jacob Chacko and the executive team, under board oversight chaired by Richard Heyman. Funding is raised through public equity markets rather than LP commitments, and the board approves major expenditures including clinical trial initiations.
How does Oric source its drug candidates?
Oric uses a hybrid model. Internal medicinal chemistry and biology teams at its South San Francisco and San Diego sites generate proprietary small-molecule inhibitors. The firm also in-licenses promising compounds, as it did with ORIC-114, a brain-penetrant EGFR inhibitor licensed from a South Korean biotech. This mix of internal discovery and external licensing allows it to target resistance mechanisms regardless of chemical origin.
Does Oric maintain philanthropic structures?
There is no publicly disclosed Oric-specific foundation or philanthropic vehicle. Like most development-stage biotechs, any charitable activity is typically conducted at the corporate level or through patient advocacy partnerships, rather than through a separate philanthropic entity.
What is Oric's known posture on co-investments alongside external partners?
Oric does not operate as a co-investor in the typical GP sense. Its collaborations—such as the licensing agreements with Taiho Pharmaceutical—are structured as traditional biopharma licensing deals with upfront payments, milestone payments, and royalties, rather than equity co-investments in portfolio companies.
Where does the underlying capital for Oric's operations come from?
Oric is publicly traded and funded through equity capital markets. The firm raised $120 million in its April 2020 IPO and has since completed follow-on offerings. Its shareholder base includes institutional biotech investors, not a single-family wealth source. The firm's most recent balance sheet disclosures indicate cash and equivalents sufficient to fund operations into 2026 or early 2027.
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