By Elias Schisgall

Shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals fell after the company said data from a phase 1b trial of a prostate cancer treatment showed that a larger dose led to higher rates of side effects.

Shares were down 22% to $9.91 in pre-market trading Wednesday after closing Tuesday at $12.67. At close, the stock had more than doubled in value over the past year.

The company on Tuesday reported data from a trial of rinzimetostat in combination with darolutamide to treat patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have previously taken abiraterone acetate. It tested 400 milligram and 600 milligram doses of rinzimetostat.

The larger dose "was associated with a modestly higher rate of adverse events and dose modifications," the company said.

Oric said it is prepared to move forward with phase 3 trials for the treatment at a 400 milligram dose, adding that the first phase 3 trial is expected to launch in the first half of this year.

The company's exposure-response analysis "demonstrated that 400 mg and 600 mg once daily provided comparable efficacy," Oric said.

"In contrast, the E-R analysis identified statistically significant relationships between higher drug exposure and toxicities as well as increased rates of treatment modifications, clearly favoring the 400 mg dose on the basis of safety."

The company said early efficacy data around rinzimetostat suggested that the 400 mg dose "demonstrated compelling efficacy across multiple endpoints," including radiographic progression-free survival rates higher than the landmark for standard-of-care therapies.

Oric is currently evaluating the treatment in a food effect cohort. It is also evaluating additional prostate cancer populations for potential future phase 3 trials.

"The combination dose optimization data announced today provide confirmatory evidence that support rinzimetostat's potential best-in-disease clinical profile, reinforcing its path towards becoming a practice-changing therapy for patients with prostate cancer," Chief Executive Jacob Chacko said.

Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 01, 2026 06:22 ET (10:22 GMT)

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