Compugen Discloses Initial Experimental Results for Predicted Antibody Drug Conjugate Targets
January 05 2015 - 7:14AM
Business Wire
Pipeline Program for oncology to be further
expanded and diversified with addition of ADC therapeutic programs
to ongoing immuno-oncology programs
Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN) announced today
positive initial experimental results for the first two of five in
silico predicted targets for antibody drug conjugate (ADC) cancer
therapy disclosed in late 2013. The two candidates demonstrate low
expression levels in normal critical tissues, such as heart and
liver, and higher expression in multiple cancer types, such as
colorectal and prostate cancers, for which there is high unmet
medical need. These results suggest that the two target candidates
may serve for the development of ADC therapy in oncology. Initial
validation of the remaining three candidates, and further testing
of these two, is ongoing. It is expected that a therapeutic
antibody discovery program against a selected ADC target will
commence later this year.
Dr. Anat Cohen-Dayag, Compugen’s President and CEO, stated, “As
previously disclosed, most of our R&D and commercialization
efforts are now being directed towards immuno-oncology related
activities supporting our immune checkpoint based candidates for
immunotherapy. As these very promising candidates based on our
first discovery program move ahead, we look forward to further
broadening the scope and diversity of our Pipeline Program with
therapeutic antibodies against ADC targets resulting from our
second discovery program. We therefore are very pleased to report
these initial positive experimental results in this additional area
of high industry interest, supporting the therapeutic potential of
these first two target candidates and further demonstrating the
unique capabilities of our broadly applicable predictive discovery
infrastructure.”
About Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) cancer therapy
ADC cancer therapy destroys cancer cells by delivering
high-potency cytotoxic agents (the “payload”) directly to the
cancer cells. The principle underlying ADC therapy is to impact
only the cancer cells by linking the cytotoxic agent payload to an
antibody or antibody fragment that specifically binds to a protein
that is present on cancer cells and expressed at lower levels in
healthy cells. When administered to the patient, the antibody with
the payload specifically targets this protein, and is internalized
into the cells, where the toxic payload is released and activated.
Thus, unlike traditional chemotherapies, ADCs are designed to
specifically destroy only cells displaying the cancer target
protein. ADCs against a number of targets, both in solid and
hematologic tumors, are in clinical development by biopharma
companies, and two ADC products have obtained FDA regulatory
approval in the past two years.
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 www.cgen.com.
Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, including statements relating to the ADC target candidates
predicted by Compugen serving for the development of ADC therapy in
oncology; the broadening of the scope and diversity of the
Company’s Pipeline Program with therapeutic antibodies against ADC
targets and in particular the commencement of a therapeutic
antibody discovery program against a selected ADC target during
2015. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
terminology such as “may,” “expectations,” “approximately,”
“further” and “potential” 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 risks and
other factors are discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of
Compugen’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December
31, 2013 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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