ORIC Pharmaceuticals Reports Inducement Grants under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)
Rhea-AI Summary
ORIC Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ORIC) announced inducement equity awards granted on April 1, 2026 to a new non-executive employee hired in March 2026. The company granted 80,000 non-qualified stock options and 15,000 restricted stock units under its 2022 Inducement Equity Incentive Plan, subject to vesting and continued employment.
Options use the closing price on the grant date; options vest 25% after one year then monthly over three years, and RSUs vest one-third annually over three years. Grants were approved by the Compensation Committee as required by Nasdaq Rule 5635(c)(4).
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News Market Reaction – ORIC
On the day this news was published, ORIC gained 0.22%, reflecting a mild positive market reaction. This price movement added approximately $2M to the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $892.18M at that time. Trading volume was elevated at 2.8x the daily average, suggesting notable buying interest.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
ORIC rose 18.93% while peers were mixed: NUVB -1.12%, MAZE +1.52%, RAPP +9.24%, ATNF +2.92%, ELVN +4.75%. No peers appeared in the momentum scanner, suggesting a stock-specific move rather than a coordinated sector rotation.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31 | Phase 3 selection | Positive | -41.0% | Selected 400 mg rinzimetostat dose for Phase 3 with supportive Phase 1b data. |
| Mar 27 | Data announcement | Positive | -2.6% | Planned report of Phase 1b rinzimetostat combination dose optimization data. |
| Mar 17 | Conference posters | Positive | -10.0% | AACR acceptance of multiple preclinical posters on rinzimetostat activity. |
| Mar 06 | Inducement grants | Neutral | -15.0% | Small inducement equity awards to a new employee under 2022 plan. |
| Feb 23 | Earnings & pipeline | Positive | +14.6% | Reported 2025 results, strong cash of $392.3M, and runway into 2H 2028. |
Recent history shows multiple sharp negative reactions to ostensibly positive clinical and news catalysts, with only the latest earnings/operations update seeing a positive alignment between news and price.
Over the last six weeks, ORIC has reported several clinical and corporate milestones. A Feb 23, 2026 earnings and pipeline update (news_id 1016865) with strong cash of $392.3M and runway into 2H 2028 coincided with a +14.6% move. Subsequent positive rinzimetostat updates, including Phase 3 dose selection on Mar 31, 2026 (news_id 1034025), saw substantial selloffs, including a -41% reaction. Prior inducement grants on Mar 2, 2026 (news_id 1023733) also preceded weakness. Today’s small inducement grant fits the pattern of routine HR and compensation news layered on top of a volatile clinical and financing backdrop.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement details standard inducement equity awards tied to a recent non-executive hire: 80,000 stock options and 15,000 RSUs under the 2022 inducement plan, with multi-year vesting schedules. It follows a series of more material clinical and financial updates in early 2026, including Phase 3 planning and runway into 2H 2028. Investors tracking ORIC may focus more on upcoming clinical milestones and capital deployment than on this routine compensation disclosure.
Key Terms
non-qualified stock options financial
restricted stock units financial
nasdaq rule 5635(c)(4) regulatory
inducement equity incentive plan financial
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. and SAN DIEGO, April 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ORIC), a clinical stage oncology company focused on developing treatments that address mechanisms of therapeutic resistance, today announced that on April 1, 2026 (the “Grant Date”), ORIC granted a total of 80,000 non-qualified stock options and 15,000 restricted stock units to one new non-executive employee who began their employment with ORIC in March 2026.
These inducement grants were granted pursuant to the ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 2022 Inducement Equity Incentive Plan, subject to recipient’s continued employment or service through each applicable vesting date. The stock options have an exercise price equal to the closing price of ORIC’s common stock on the Grant Date. Twenty-five percent (
The inducement grants were approved by ORIC’s Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, as required by Nasdaq Rule 5635(c)(4), and were granted as a material inducement to employment in accordance with Nasdaq Rule 5635(c)(4).
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) rinzimetostat (ORIC-944), an allosteric inhibitor of the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) via the EED subunit, being developed for prostate cancer, and (2) enozertinib, a brain penetrant inhibitor targeting EGFR exon 20 and EGFR PACC mutations, being developed for NSCLC. ORIC has offices in South San Francisco and San Diego, California. For more information, please go to www.oricpharma.com, and follow us on X or LinkedIn.
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 the vesting of the inducement grants; target indications for ORIC’s product candidates; the potential advantages of ORIC’s product candidates; and plans underlying ORIC’s clinical trials and development. 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 our 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 entitled “Risk Factors” in ORIC’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 23, 2026, 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
dominic.piscitelli@oricpharma.com
info@oricpharma.com
