Compugen Cancer Milestone

Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN) has achieved a second milestone in its cancer immunotherapy collaboration it entered last year with Bayer HealthCare (Bayer). The collaboration provides for the research, development, and commercialization of antibody-based cancer therapeutics against two novel Compugen-discovered immune checkpoint regulators. The milestone relates to the second preclinical milestone for one of the checkpoint protein candidates. The achievement of the initial milestone for this candidate was announced in July of this year.

Under the terms of a collaboration and license agreement signed in August 2013, Compugen and Bayer are jointly pursuing a preclinical research program for antibody-based cancer immunotherapy against two novel Compugen-discovered immune checkpoint regulators. Subsequently, Bayer will have full control over further development and have worldwide commercialization rights for potential cancer therapeutics. Compugen received an upfront payment of $10 million and is eligible to receive over $500 million in potential milestone payments for both checkpoint programs, plus an additional $30 million of potential milestone payments associated with joint preclinical research for the two programs, which includes payments related to the two milestones achieved to date. Compugen is also eligible to receive royalties on global net sales from any resulting products under the collaboration.