ORIC Widens Loss as Rinzimetostat Enters Phase 3 With Bayer
Oric Pharmaceuticals posted a $41.5 million second-quarter net loss as it moved rinzimetostat into a global Phase 3 trial backed by a new supply deal with Bayer.
Oric Pharmaceuticals (ORIC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, reported a second-quarter net loss of $41.5 million, up from $36.4 million a year earlier, as spending on its lead cancer program accelerated ahead of a pivotal trial launch.
The company advanced rinzimetostat, an oral EZH2 inhibitor, from earlier-stage development into Himalayas-1, a global Phase 3 registrational trial enrolling roughly 600 patients across more than 250 sites in 25 countries. To support the study, Oric entered a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Bayer, under which Bayer will supply its prostate cancer drug NUBEQA at no cost for the trial — the company's first disclosed strategic pharmaceutical partnership.
Research and development expenses rose to $36.3 million in the quarter from $30.5 million a year earlier, a 19% increase driven by higher external spending on rinzimetostat that was partly offset by lower manufacturing and clinical costs for enozertinib, the company's other lead candidate. Over the first six months of 2026, R&D spending climbed 23% to $67.7 million from $55.2 million. General and administrative expenses rose more modestly, up 6% to $9.0 million in the quarter on higher personnel and professional-services costs.
The wider dollar loss did not translate into a wider per-share loss. Net loss per share improved to $(0.38) from $(0.47) a year earlier, and to $(0.72) for the six-month period from $(0.89), as the weighted-average share count grew 38% to 108.0 million shares following equity raises.
Oric ended the quarter with $387.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments, down from $408.9 million in total assets at the end of 2025, after adding $59.9 million in net proceeds from at-the-market share sales earlier in the year. The company said that balance funds operations into the second half of 2028, covering the anticipated Phase 3 primary endpoint readout for rinzimetostat, which it expects in that same window.
For enozertinib, an EGFR-targeted therapy, Oric laid out a specific data cadence for the first time. The company plans to present monotherapy data in first-line EGFR atypical mutations at the European Society for Medical Oncology congress in October 2026, followed by data later in the year on EGFR exon 20 insertion monotherapy and a combination regimen with subcutaneous amivantamab.
Oric also said it expects to provide a broader program update on rinzimetostat in the second half of 2026, as Himalayas-1 continues enrolling patients across its international site network.