Compugen Presents New Results Supporting CGEN-15049 as Potential Cancer Immunotherapy Target
February 09 2015 - 7:14AM
Business Wire
Data presented at the Keystone Symposia on
Tumor Immunology
Speaking today at the Keystone Symposia on Tumor Immunology in
Banff, Canada, Arthur Machlenkin, PhD, Head of Immunology Group at
Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN),
presented new experimental results for CGEN-15049, a novel immune
checkpoint protein discovered by the Company as a target for cancer
immunotherapy. The new data presented for CGEN-15049 demonstrate
expression of this protein on tumors isolated from ovarian cancer
patients, both on the cancer cells and on immune cells within the
tumor. Additional new data also demonstrate expression of
CGEN-15049 on a similar population of tumor infiltrating immune
cells in tumor-bearing mice. The collective data generated to date
by Compugen support the ability of CGEN-15049 to affect key
components of the immune system known to be involved in anti-tumor
immune responses, supporting its potential as a promising target
for immuno-oncology antibody therapy. Dr. Machlenkin’s presentation
at the Keystone Symposia also included experimental data for
CGEN-15027, a different novel immune checkpoint candidate
discovered by the Company.
The CGEN-15049 studies presented at the conference examined
expression of this protein on cells isolated from primary tumors of
ovarian cancer patients. Expression of CGEN-15049 was observed both
on cancer cells and on tumor infiltrating myeloid cells, which have
been associated with immune suppression. Additional data
demonstrate consistent expression of CGEN-15049 on myeloid immune
cells within the tumor microenvironment in mouse cancer models.
Dr. Anat Cohen-Dayag, Compugen’s President and CEO,
stated, “We are extremely pleased by the continuing flow of
new data, such as the data being reported at this symposium,
supporting expression of CGEN-15049 on cancer cells and immune
myeloid cells from ovarian cancer patients. The data clearly
demonstrate the potential for our novel checkpoint targets to serve
as very attractive targets for immunotherapy of various cancers of
high unmet need.”
About CGEN-15049
CGEN-15049 is one of eleven novel B7/CD28-like immune
checkpoints predicted in silico by Compugen. It was
previously disclosed that this target candidate has an effect on a
variety of immune cells, supporting its role as a modulator of the
immune system. More specifically, CGEN-15049 has been shown to
affect immune cells such as Natural Killer (NK) cells, which are
important for innate anti-tumor immune responses, and various T
cell types that constitute a crucial component of the adaptive
immune response. The adaptive immune response includes inhibition
of cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which are responsible for killing tumor
cells, and promotion of inducible regulatory T cells, which play a
critical role in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. In
addition, CGEN-15049 was shown to be expressed on a wide variety of
cancers with high clinical unmet need, such as lung, ovarian,
breast, colorectal, gastric, prostate and liver cancers. These data
support CGEN-15049’s potential as a promising target for
immuno-oncology antibody therapy.
About Immune Checkpoints
Immune checkpoints are inhibitory receptors and their ligands,
which are crucial for the maintenance of self-tolerance (that is,
the prevention of autoimmunity) and for the protection of tissues
from damage when the immune system is responding to pathogenic
infection or other injuries. These immune checkpoints, which are
"hijacked" by tumors to block the ability of the immune system to
destroy the tumor (immune resistance), have lately emerged as "game
changers" and promising targets for cancer
immunotherapy. Therapeutic blockade of immune checkpoints can
boost anti-tumor immunity, enabling the patient’s immune system to
recognize and attack the tumor cells, and mount durable anti-tumor
responses and tumor destruction. The blockade of immune checkpoints
unleashes the potential of the anti-tumor immune response in a
fashion that is transforming cancer therapeutics.
Checkpoint-blocking antibodies have lately demonstrated impressive
clinical benefits and long-term survival, even for end-stage
patients, raising hopes that this novel approach will lead to
effective therapeutic strategies and valuable additions in the
fight against cancer.
About Compugen
Compugen is a leading drug discovery company focused on
monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic proteins to address important
unmet needs in the fields of oncology and immunology. The
Company utilizes a broad and continuously growing integrated
infrastructure of proprietary scientific understandings and
predictive platforms, algorithms, machine learning systems and
other computational biology capabilities for the in
silico (by computer) prediction and selection of novel drug
target candidates, which are then advanced in its Pipeline Program.
The discovery and development of monoclonal antibody therapeutic
candidates against selected Compugen-discovered novel target
candidates is performed by Compugen’s wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary
located in South San Francisco. The Company's business model
includes collaborations covering the further development and
commercialization of product candidates at various stages from its
Pipeline Program and various forms of research and discovery
agreements, in both cases providing Compugen with potential
milestone payments and royalties on product sales or other forms of
revenue sharing. For additional information, please visit
Compugen's corporate website at http://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, including statements relating to CGEN-15049’s potential to
suppress anti-tumor immune responses, and to its potential and that
of other novel Compugen checkpoint targets to serve as promising
and attractive targets for immuno-oncology antibody therapy.
Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
terminology such as “will,” “may,” “expects,” “anticipates,”
“believes,” and “intends,” and describe opinions about 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. Some of these and other
factors are 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 as well as other documents that may be
subsequently filed by Compugen from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. 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.
Compugen Ltd.Tsipi Haitovsky, +972-52-598-9892Global Media
Liaisontsipih@cgen.com
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