Compugen Announces Issuance of U.S. Patent for COM701, its Lead Immuno-Oncology Product Candidate

HOLON, Israel, July 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Compugen Ltd. 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.