ORIC Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage oncology company focused on discovery and development of novel therapies against treatment-resistant cancers, announced yesterday that it has named Dr Pratik Multani as its new chief medical officer.

Dr Multani will manage the clinical development of ORIC's lead compound, ORIC-101, a potent and selective small-molecule antagonist of the glucocorticoid receptor and its range of other novel agents targeting mechanisms of oncology therapy resistance.

Dr Multani brings to the company more than 20 years of experience in oncology drug development and treatment of patients with cancer. Most recently, he served as chief medical officer of Ignyta, which was acquired by Roche, where he led all development and regulatory activities related to multiple clinical stage assets, including Ignyta's lead program, entrectinib, which is in a global, registration study across 15 countries. Prior to Ignyta, he was chief medical officer of Fate Therapeutics, and prior to that held multiple leadership positions at Kalypsys, Kanisa, and Salmedix. He started his biotech career at Biogen Idec, where he was involved with the development of both Zevalin and Rituxan for treatment of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Prior to his career in biotech, he held academic and clinical positions at Harvard Medical School and at Massachusetts General Hospital. His postdoctoral training included a fellowship in haematology and oncology at Dana-Farber/Partners and an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.