HOLON, Israel, December 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN), a leading predictive drug
discovery company, disclosed today CGEN-15137, its cancer
immunotherapy program for TIGIT. TIGIT is an immune checkpoint in
the B7/CD28 family which has recently gained broad industry
interest in the field of immuno-oncology.
At the recent Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of
Cancer, the Company disclosed data demonstrating that the
CGEN-15029/PVRIG immune checkpoint, discovered by Compugen
represents a new inhibitory component of the known TIGIT axis. Data
was also presented that strongly support combining the Company's
COM701 anti-PVRIG antibody, which is now in preclinical studies,
with an anti-TIGIT antibody. Compugen hypothesized that dual
blockade of the two negative costimulatory arms of the axis - TIGIT
and PVRIG - should result in a more robust T cell response, and
therefore possibly a better anti-tumor immune response. To support
this, in vitro studies were conducted which show that dual
blockade of both TIGIT and PVRIG increases the activity of tumor
infiltrating T cells (TILs) beyond the level achieved by blocking
each alone. Leveraging its knowledge, Compugen initiated a
therapeutic antibody program targeting TIGIT to complement its
CGEN-15029 program.
Anat Cohen-Dayag, Ph.D., CEO and
President of Compugen, stated, "We are excited to disclose our
therapeutic program for TIGIT, an immuno-oncology target of high
industry interest. Our efforts to date have demonstrated the
potential enhanced efficacy of a combination treatment of a TIGIT
antibody together with COM701. TIGIT and PVRIG represent two
distinct arms of the same biological pathway. Based on this and our
experimental data demonstrating synergistic activation of T cells,
we believe there is a significant added value to developing both
arms of this potential combination therapy. Currently, we are in
the process of developing a therapeutic antibody for
CGEN-15137/TIGIT, and expect to select the lead antibody for this
target by end of the first quarter of 2017."
Dr. Cohen-Dayag continued, "It is becoming clearer that more
closely tailored combination therapies will be able to address, in
the future, a higher percentage of cancer patients. We therefore
have high expectations for our diversified portfolio of novel
immune checkpoint candidates."
Internally designated as CGEN-15137, TIGIT was discovered by
Compugen utilizing its in silico predictive discovery
infrastructure and experimentally validated as an immune
checkpoint. The findings were published by Compugen in the
October 2009 issue of the Proceedings
of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). In the same year, two other
groups also published papers disclosing the same checkpoint.
Antibodies targeting TIGIT being developed by others entered Phase
I clinical testing during the past few months.
Additional information regarding the CGEN-15137/TIGIT program,
as well as other programs, will be provided today at the Company's
R&D Day in New York City. A
live webcast of the event will be available on the investors
section of Compugen's website beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET today. An archived replay of the
webcast will be available on the website for 30 days following the
event.
About TIGIT
TIGIT is an immune checkpoint that can inhibit both T cell and
NK cell activation when bound to its ligand, PVR (also known as
CD155). TIGIT expression is increased on tumor infiltrating
lymphocytes (TILs), and inhibition of T cell activation by TIGIT
has been reported to be mediated by its ability to disrupt DNAM-1
(also known as CD226) costimulatory signals. Recent preclinical
studies have shown that antibody antagonists of TIGIT can potently
inhibit tumor growth in mouse cancer models when combined with PD1
pathway blockade.
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, and include statements relating to the potential of the
CGEN-15029 program for the development of new cancer immunotherapy
treatments, including the potential of COM701 alone or combined
with anti-CGEN-15137 antibody as a new cancer immunotherapy
treatment. 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 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
Staniesky et al. (2009) PNAS 106(42):17858-63. doi:
10.1073/pnas.0903474106
.
SOURCE Compugen Ltd.