ORIC hires general counsel

ORIC Pharmaceuticals has recruited Christian Kuhlen as general counsel at the privately held, clinical-stage oncology company. He serves on the executive leadership team and leads ORIC’s legal, compliance, intellectual property and corporate governance functions.

The south San Francisco, California-based company is focused on developing treatments that address mechanisms of therapeutic resistance.

Kuhlen, who is also a doctor, most recently worked as general counsel and secretary for Synthorx, where he led the legal aspects of its IPO and advised on the company’s subsequent acquisition by Sanofi. Before joining Synthorx, he was general counsel at Ignyta, where he co-ordinated two public financings and advised on the company’s acquisition by Roche.

Before that, Kuhlen served as general counsel of Genoptix, leading the legal function from the company’s IPO to its successful acquisition by Novartis. Earlier in his career he was an attorney with law firm Cooley.

‘We are thrilled to continue attracting top talent to ORIC’s experienced leadership team, which has been significantly reshaped over the past 18 months,’ says CEO Jacob Chacko in a statement. ‘With more than 15 years of experience as counsel to leading biotechnology companies, Chris has demonstrated outstanding judgement and legal acumen.

‘In his prior roles as general counsel of three public companies… Chris helped steer them through critical strategic events like public financings, business development transactions and [M&A], making him an exceptional addition to our team.’