HOLON, Israel, July 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN), a therapeutic discovery and
development company, today announced that the United States Patent
and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a patent for COM701, the
Company's lead immuno-oncology therapeutic antibody candidate. The
patent was issued under the USPTO's pilot program providing early
review for patent applications pertaining to cancer immunotherapy
in support of the White House Cancer Moonshot program, and is one
of less than a dozen patents granted under the program to date.
Anat Cohen-Dayag, PhD, President
and CEO of Compugen, commented, "We are excited to have the first
patent of the COM701 program issued and we expect it to add
significant value to our COM701 patent portfolio in the field of
immuno-oncology. The patent is part of our global strategy of
immuno-oncology patents and patent applications controlled by our
Company to protect our IP assets."
The patent, U.S. Patent No. 9,714,289, relates to the method of
using COM701 for activating T cells in cancer patients.
Activating T cells results in stimulating the immune system, and
therefore could be used for cancer immunotherapy treatment. The
patent is expected to expire no earlier than February 2036 in the U.S. for the issued
claims.
About COM701
COM701 is a humanized hybridoma antibody that binds with high
affinity to PVRIG, a novel B7/CD28-like immune checkpoint target
candidate discovered by Compugen, blocking its interaction with
PVRL2. Blockade of PVRIG by COM701 has demonstrated potent,
reproducible enhancement of T cell activation, consistent with the
desired mechanism of action of activating T cells in the tumor
microenvironment to generate anti-tumor immune responses. In
addition, COM701 combined with antagonist anti-TIGIT or anti-PD1
antibodies has demonstrated synergistic effect on human T cell
stimulation, indicating the potential of these combinations to
further enhance immune response against tumors.
About Compugen
Compugen is a leading therapeutic discovery company whose
mission is to utilize its broadly applicable predictive discovery
infrastructure to discover novel drug targets and develop
first-in-class therapeutics. Our current pipeline consists of early
and preclinical stage immuno-oncology programs based on novel drug
targets discovered internally, primarily immune checkpoint and
myeloid protein target candidates. These programs focus on the
development of first-in-class cancer immunotherapy drugs with the
potential to harness the immune system to provide treatment
solutions in areas of unmet medical need in various cancer types
and patient populations, both as monotherapy and in combination
with other drugs. In addition, our pipeline currently includes a
preclinical fusion protein autoimmune product candidate. Compugen's
business model is based on selectively entering into collaborations
for its novel target candidates and related 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, therapeutic monoclonal antibodies are discovered
and developed against the Company's novel drug 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," "potential," 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 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
SOURCE Compugen Ltd.