ORIC Pharmaceuticals Expands Leadership Team with the Appointment of Keith Lui as Senior Vice President of Commercial and Medical Affairs

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. and SAN DIEGO, Aug. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ORIC), a clinical stage oncology company focused on developing treatments that address mechanisms of therapeutic resistance, today announced the appointment of Keith Lui as Senior Vice President of Commercial and Medical Affairs.

“We are thrilled to welcome Keith to the ORIC leadership team,” said Jacob M. Chacko, M.D., president and chief executive officer. “Keith’s exceptional multi-decade track record of helping to bring innovative therapies to market, combined with his experience in strategic planning and medical affairs, will be invaluable as we advance our differentiated pipeline of promising oncology candidates into later-stage clinical development and prepare for potential future commercialization to bring transformative therapies to patients."

Mr. Lui brings over two decades of biopharma experience focused on helping clinical-stage companies transition to full commercialization. During his career, he has made significant contributions to the strategic planning and commercial launches of new medicines including Imbruvica^®, Zelboraf^®, Pepaxto^®, Posimir^®, and multiple new indication launches for blockbuster therapies such as Avastin^® and Rituxan^®. Most recently, Mr. Lui was SVP, Business Development, Commercial and Medical Affairs at DURECT, leading the preparation for commercialization, and closing multiple licensing, co-marketing, and asset sale deals. Prior to DURECT, he helped build the U.S. corporate infrastructure, commercial function, and launch strategy at Oncopeptides. Prior to that, he led commercial and launch-readiness efforts at Prothena and Versartis and led the launch of Imbruvica at Pharmacyclics. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lui held multiple oncology marketing and sales roles at Genentech and Johnson & Johnson. He holds a BA in integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA with distinction from Vanderbilt University.

“Having previously worked with several members of the ORIC leadership team, I’m excited to join the company at this pivotal inflection point,” said Mr. Lui. “With two programs having reached early proof-of-concept, I look forward to working with this extraordinary team to prepare for the potential start of multiple registrational studies next year and the eventual commercialization of innovative therapies that address cancer resistance to improve patients’ lives.”

About ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

ORIC Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving patients’ lives by Overcoming Resistance In Cancer. ORIC’s clinical stage product candidates include (1) ORIC-114, a brain penetrant inhibitor designed to selectively target EGFR and HER2 with high potency against exon 20 insertion mutations, being developed across multiple genetically defined cancers, (2) ORIC-944, an allosteric inhibitor of the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) via the EED subunit, being developed for prostate cancer, and (3) ORIC-533, an orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of CD73, a key node in the adenosine pathway believed to play a central role in resistance to chemotherapy- and immunotherapy-based treatment regimens, being developed for multiple myeloma. Beyond these three product candidates, ORIC^® is also developing multiple precision medicines targeting other hallmark cancer resistance mechanisms. ORIC has offices in South San Francisco and San Diego, California. For more information, please go to , and follow us on  or .

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding target indications for ORIC’s product candidates; the potential advantages of ORIC’s product candidates; plans underlying ORIC’s clinical trials and development; and statements by the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President of Commercial and Medical Affairs. Words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “intends,” “will,” “goal,” “potential” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are based upon ORIC’s current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to: risks associated with the process of discovering, developing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics and operating as an early clinical stage company; ORIC’s ability to develop, initiate or complete preclinical studies and clinical trials for, obtain approvals for and commercialize any of its product candidates; changes in ORIC’s plans to develop and commercialize its product candidates; the potential for clinical trials of ORIC’s product candidates to differ from preclinical, initial, interim, preliminary or expected results; negative impacts of health emergencies, economic instability or international conflicts on ORIC’s operations, including clinical trials; the risk of the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of ORIC’s license and collaboration agreements; the potential market for ORIC’s product candidates, and the progress and success of competing therapeutics currently available or in development; ORIC’s ability to raise any additional funding it will need to continue to pursue its business and product development plans; regulatory developments in the United States and foreign countries; ORIC’s reliance on third parties, including contract manufacturers and contract research organizations; ORIC’s ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for its product candidates; the loss of key scientific or management personnel; competition in the industry in which ORIC operates; general economic and market conditions; and other risks. Information regarding the foregoing and additional risks may be found in the section titled “Risk Factors” in ORIC’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on May 6, 2024, and ORIC’s future reports to be filed with the SEC. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and ORIC assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Contact:

Dominic Piscitelli, Chief Financial Officer