HOLON, Israel, July 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Compugen
Ltd. (CGEN) (Nasdaq: CGEN), a clinical-stage cancer
immunotherapy company and a leader in predictive target discovery,
was informed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has
cleared Bayer AG's investigational new drug (IND) application for
BAY 1905254, a first-in-class immuno-oncology therapeutic
antibody targeting the ILDR2 protein in patients with advanced
solid tumors. ILDR2 is a novel immune checkpoint discovered by
Compugen through its predictive computational capabilities, which
enable the discovery of new drug targets and biological pathways.
Under a collaboration and license agreement, Compugen and Bayer
jointly pursued preclinical research advancing BAY 1905254 while
Bayer is now responsible for conducting clinical development of
this candidate.
"Clearance of a second IND for a therapeutic antibody against a
novel Compugen-discovered target provides substantial validation of
our powerful computational platform," stated Anat Cohen-Dayag, PhD, President and CEO of
Compugen. "Bayer has been an excellent partner for us, and we are
delighted to see their commitment to advance this promising
program. Together with COM701, our anti-PVRIG therapeutic antibody,
there are now two new first-in-class programs, discovered by our
unique computational platform, in the clinic."
In accordance with the agreement signed between Compugen and
Bayer, Compugen is entitled to receive a milestone payment upon the
first patient dosing with BAY 1905254 in the Phase 1 clinical
trial expected in 2018.
About ILDR2 and BAY 1905254
ILDR2 is a novel B7/CD28-like immune checkpoint target candidate
discovered computationally by Compugen. Studies testing the immune
function of ILDR2, demonstrated inhibitory effects on T cells
consistent with it being an immune checkpoint ligand.
Additional expression and functional studies suggest that ILDR2
acts as an inhibitor of the priming step of T cell activation,
thereby muting T cell response to cancer.
BAY 1905254 is a novel immune checkpoint inhibitor for cancer
immunotherapy targeting ILDR2. BAY 1905254 is a human/mouse
cross-reactive antibody blocking the immunosuppressive activity of
ILDR2. BAY 1905254 has exhibited anti-tumor activity as a
monotherapy in various mouse models, and was also shown to have
additive anti-tumor effects in combination with other cancer
therapy approaches in those models, indicating the possibility for
multiple combination uses in cancer immunotherapy.
About Compugen
Compugen is a clinical-stage, therapeutic discovery and
development company utilizing its broadly applicable predictive
discovery infrastructure to identify novel drug targets and develop
first-in-class therapeutics in the field of cancer immunotherapy.
The Company's therapeutic pipeline consists of immuno-oncology
programs against novel drug targets it has discovered, including T
cell immune checkpoints and myeloid target programs. Compugen's
business model is to selectively enter into collaborations for its
novel targets and related drug product candidates at various stages
of research and development. The Company is headquartered in
Israel with R&D facilities in
both Israel and South San Francisco, CA. Compugen's ordinary
shares are listed on Nasdaq and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under
the ticker symbol CGEN. For additional information, please visit
Compugen's corporate website at www.cgen.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
terminology such as "will," "may," "expects," "anticipates,"
"believes," "potential," "plan," "goal," "estimate," "likely,"
"should," "confident," and "intends," and describe opinions about
possible future events. These forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual
results, performance or achievements of Compugen to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Among
these risks: Compugen's business model is substantially dependent
on entering into collaboration agreements with third parties and
Compugen may not be successful in generating adequate revenues or
commercializing aspects of its business model. Moreover, the
development and commercialization of therapeutic candidates involve
many inherent risks, including failure to progress to clinical
trials or, if they progress to or enter clinical trials, failure to
receive regulatory approval. These and other factors, including the
ability to finance the Company, are more fully discussed in the
"Risk Factors" section of Compugen's most recent Annual Report on
Form 20-F as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) as well as other documents that may be subsequently filed by
Compugen from time to time with the SEC. In addition, any
forward-looking statements represent Compugen's views only as of
the date of this release and should not be relied upon as
representing its views as of any subsequent date. Compugen does not
assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements
unless required by law.
Company contact:
Elana Holzman
Director, Investor Relations and Corporate
Communications
Compugen Ltd.
Email: elanah@cgen.com
Tel: +972-(3)-765-8124
Investor Relations contact:
Burns
McClellan, Inc.
Jill Steier
Email: jsteier@burnsmc.com
Tel: 212-213-0006
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SOURCE Compugen Ltd.