HOLON, Israel, April 10,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ:
CGEN) (TASE: CGEN) a clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company
and a pioneer in computational target discovery, today announced
the simultaneous online publication of a peer reviewed paper titled
'Unleashing natural IL-18 activity using an anti-IL-18BP blocker
antibody induces potent immune stimulation and anti-tumor effects'
link, in Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the
American Association for Cancer Research with a presentation at the
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting on
April 5-11, 2024, in San Diego, California.
"There is a growing recognition of the importance of the IL-18
pathway in cancer immunology reflected in the surge in investment
and collaboration in this space," said Anat
Cohen-Dayag, Ph.D., President, and Chief Executive Officer
of Compugen. "Through our computational discovery work at Compugen
we identified that IL-18 binding protein (BP), a natural inhibitor
of IL-18, is highly expressed in patients as a potential immune
resistant mechanism. Taking advantage of the high levels of
endogenous IL-18BP bound-IL-18 in the tumor microenvironment, we,
along with our partner Gilead Sciences are developing COM503, a
differentiated antibody approach to harness cytokine biology for
cancer therapeutics."
Eran Ophir, Ph.D., Chief
Scientific Officer at Compugen added, "Our paper published online
yesterday in Cancer Immunology Research describes how
COM503, a potential first-in-class high affinity monoclonal
antibody, blocks the interaction between IL-18 and IL-18BP,
unleashing the activity of endogenous IL-18 in the tumor. By
relying on endogenous production of IL-18, we found that COM503's
activity is localized to the tumor microenvironment with the
additional advantage of a wider therapeutic window than systemic
IL-18 delivery."
Dr. Cohen-Dayag continued, "Combining the cutting-edge
capabilities and expertise of both Compugen and Gilead, our goal is
to expedite the development of COM503. This year, we are
progressing towards COM503 IND filing and are planning initiation
of a Phase 1 study evaluating safety and tolerability of
COM503."
About Compugen
Compugen is a clinical-stage therapeutic discovery and
development company utilizing its broadly applicable predictive
computational discovery capabilities to identify new drug targets
and biological pathways for developing cancer immunotherapies.
Compugen has developed two proprietary product candidates: COM701,
a potential first-in-class anti-PVRIG antibody and COM902, a
potential best-in-class antibody targeting TIGIT for the treatment
of solid tumors. Compugen also has a clinical stage partnered
program, rilvegostomig (previously AZD2936), a PD-1/TIGIT
bispecific antibody where the TIGIT component is derived from
Compugen's clinical stage anti-TIGIT antibody, COM902, in Phase 3
development by AstraZeneca through a license agreement for the
development of bispecific and multispecific antibodies. In
addition, the Company's therapeutic pipeline of early-stage
immuno-oncology programs consists of programs aiming to address
various mechanisms of immune resistance, of which the most advanced
program, COM503, is in IND enabling studies is licensed to Gilead.
COM503 is a potential first-in-class, high affinity antibody which
blocks the interaction between IL-18 binding protein and IL-18,
thereby freeing natural IL-18 in the tumor microenvironment to
inhibit cancer growth. Compugen is headquartered in Israel, with offices in San Francisco, CA. Compugen's shares are
listed on Nasdaq and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the ticker
symbol CGEN.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the safe-harbor provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs,
expectations, and assumptions of Compugen. Forward-looking
statements can be identified using terminology such as "will,"
"may," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "potential," "plan,"
"goal," "estimate," "likely," "should," "confident," and "intends,"
and similar expressions that are intended to identify
forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking
statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to
our development of COM503, including the IND filing and initiation
of a Phase 1 clinical trial. 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: clinical development involves a
lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome and
Compugen may encounter substantial delays or even an inability to
begin clinical trials for any specific product or may not be able
to conduct or complete its trials on the timelines it expects;
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; Compugen's approach
to the discovery of therapeutic products is based on its
proprietary computational target discovery infrastructure, which is
unproven clinically; Compugen does not know whether it will be able
to discover and develop additional potential product candidates or
products of commercial value; and conditions in Israel and in the Middle East, including the effect of the
evolving nature of the ongoing "Swords of Iron" war, may adversely
affect our operations. These risks and other risks 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:
Yvonne Naughton, Ph.D.
Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Email: ir@cgen.com
Tel: +1 (628) 241-0071
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SOURCE Compugen Ltd.