HOLON, Israel, Feb. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In an oral
presentation today at the New York Academy of Sciences' Emerging
Approaches to Cancer Immunotherapy conference, John Hunter, Ph.D., Site Head and Vice President
of Antibody R&D at Compugen USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary
of Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN), presented results for
CGEN-15029, the lead internal program in the Company's
immuno-oncology therapeutics pipeline. CGEN-15029 is one of the
multiple novel immune checkpoint target candidates discovered by
the Company through the use of its unique in silico
predictive discovery capabilities.
Dr. Hunter's presentation included details of recent progress
achieved for the CGEN-15029 antibody program, including the
successful discovery of blocking antibodies and biophysical
information for the lead antibodies. In his presentation, Dr.
Hunter reviewed the expression data for CGEN-15029 in relevant
subsets of T and NK cells, demonstrating expression in tumor
infiltrating lymphocytes that populate the tumor microenvironment
of multiple types of cancers. Specifically, expression of
CGEN-15029 was shown to be highly correlated with the known immune
checkpoints PD-1, TIM-3 and TIGIT in various solid tumors,
suggesting that it plays a similar role in preventing T-cell
response to tumor cells, and consistent with previous experiments
in which the Company has demonstrated that increased expression of
CGEN-15029 inhibits T-cell activation. Additional data was
presented demonstrating the binding of CGEN-15029 to its ligand
("binding partner"), which was identified during CGEN-15029's
target validation efforts.
Dr. Hunter also disclosed that Compugen has identified a panel
of antibodies that bind to CGEN-15029 with very high affinity and
disrupt the interaction with its ligand, a mechanism of action
common to other antibodies serving as immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Based on the expression data and additional mechanistic results
presented for selected antibodies, such antibody therapeutic
candidates targeting CGEN-15029 are predicted to exert an immune
stimulatory effect in the tumor microenvironment, thus allowing the
immune system to attack the cancer cells.
Anat Cohen-Dayag, Ph.D.,
Compugen's President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "We are
pleased to present today these important results for therapeutic
antibodies in our lead internal program CGEN-15029, a novel immune
checkpoint target candidate for the treatment of cancer. Our
identification of a binding partner during CGEN-15029's target
validation efforts has provided a much clearer path towards
discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies against the
target. Accordingly, we have successfully progressed through
antibody discovery and identified antibodies that meet our key
selection criteria for therapeutic candidates. We are now at the
stage of selecting the therapeutic clinical candidate which we plan
to advance to IND enabling studies, and are finalizing work plans
for such advancement on various fronts, including manufacturing,
preclinical and regulatory. We consider CGEN-15029 to be a very
promising therapeutic and commercial opportunity, and look forward
to disclosing further information regarding the program in the
coming months."
Dr. Cohen-Dayag added, "The accumulating clinical results for
the small number of cancer immunotherapy drugs currently available
show that while some patients achieve remarkable long-term
remissions, the majority of cancer patients experience little, if
any, benefit. This highlights the need for additional
checkpoint-based therapies and other immuno-oncology drugs in order
to provide a more inclusive solution to cancer. Therefore, the
continuing demonstration of the potential value for the novel
immune checkpoint target candidates discovered by the Company, such
as CGEN-15029, in a variety of cancers and immune cell sub-types is
very exciting from both a medical and commercial standpoint."
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 emerged as promising
targets for cancer immunotherapy, and have shifted the treatment
paradigms for several major cancer types. Therapeutic blockade of
immune checkpoints boosts 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.
Although to date the blockade of immune checkpoints has proven
effective for only a minority of patients in a limited, but growing
number of cancer types, it has provided impressive clinical
benefits, enabling long-term survival, even for end-stage patients,
and is transforming cancer therapeutics.
About Compugen
Compugen is a leading therapeutic discovery company utilizing
its broadly applicable predictive discovery infrastructure to
identify novel drug targets and develop first-in-class biologics.
The primary focus of the Company's current pipeline is on immune
checkpoint target candidates discovered by the Company, potentially
providing the basis for a next wave of therapeutics for cancer
immunotherapy. Compugen's business model is based on selectively
entering into collaborations for its novel target candidates and
drug product candidates at various stages of research and
development under revenue-sharing agreements. The Company is
headquartered in Israel, with
R&D facilities in Israel and
South San Francisco. At the US facilities, monoclonal antibody
therapeutic candidates are discovered and developed against the
Company's novel target candidates. 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. 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. Among these risks:
Compugen's business model is substantially dependent on entering
into collaboration agreements with third parties and may not be
successful in generating revenues or commercializing aspects of our
business model, and 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 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 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.
Company contact:
Tsipi Haitovsky
Global Media Liaison
Compugen Ltd.
Email: tsipih@cgen.com
Tel: +972-52-598-9892
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/compugen-presents-results-for-cgen-15029-immuno-oncology-therapeutic-program-300227534.html
SOURCE Compugen Ltd.