Compugen Announces Presentations at Three Upcoming Cancer Immunotherapy Conferences

HOLON, Israel, January 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN), a leader in predictive discovery and development of first-in-class therapeutics for cancer immunotherapy, today announced upcoming poster and oral presentations on COM701, a first-in-class therapeutic antibody candidate targeting PVRIG, and COM902, a therapeutic antibody targeting TIGIT, at the following immunotherapy conferences:

The poster titled "PVRIG Expression is Associated with T Cell Exhaustion and Synergizes with TIGIT to Inhibit Anti-Tumor Responses" (Poster no. 2028) will be presented on Thursday, January 18, 2018 at the Keystone Symposia Conference, A3: T Cell Dysfunction, Cancer and Infection, being held January 16-20, 2018 at the Beaver Run Resort, Breckenridge, CO. The poster will include new preclinical data further supporting COM701's potential efficacy as monotherapy and in combination with other checkpoint inhibitors, as well as the importance of targeting PVRIG in treating certain cancers.

The presentation titled "Targeting PVRIG and TIGIT for Cancer Immunotherapy" will be given on Tuesday, January 23, 2018 at the Precision Medicine World Conference being held January 22-24, 2018 at the Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA.

The presentation titled "Antagonism of PVRIG, a Novel Checkpoint Receptor, Potentiates Anti-Tumor Responses" will be given on Wednesday, February 14, 2018 at the Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference being held February 11-16, 2018 at the Moscone South Convention Center, San Francisco, CA.

Following these presentations, the poster and presentation slides will be available on Compugen's website at http://www.cgen.com.

About COM701 and COM902  

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, indicating blockage of this target's 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-PD1 antibodies has demonstrated synergistic effect on human T cell stimulation, indicating the potential of these combinations to further enhance immune response against tumors.

COM902, Compugen's antibody targeting TIGIT, was developed for combination use with COM701. Preclinical data strongly support the dual blockade of the two negative costimulatory arms of the axis - TIGIT and PVRIG - that results in a more robust T cell response to antigen stimulation, and therefore may result in an enhanced anti-tumor immune response.

About Compugen 

Compugen is a therapeutic discovery and development company utilizing its broadly applicable predictive discovery infrastructure to identify novel drug targets and develop first-in-class therapeutics in the field of cancer immunotherapy. The Company's therapeutic pipeline consists of immuno-oncology programs against novel drug targets it has discovered, including T cell immune checkpoints and myeloid target programs. Compugen's business model is to selectively enter into collaborations for its novel targets and related drug product candidates at various stages of research and development. The Company is headquartered in Israel, with R&D facilities in both Israel and South San Francisco, CA. Compugen's shares are listed on NASDAQ and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CGEN. 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," "plan," "goal," "estimate," "likely," "should," "confident," 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, 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, including the ability to finance the Company, 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: [email protected]
Tel: +972(3)765-8124

Investor Relations contact: 

Burns McClellan, Inc.
Jill Steier
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 212-213-0006

SOURCE Compugen Ltd.