Compugen Announces Q2 2024 Results

Compugen Ltd., a clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company based in Holon, Israel, has reported its financial results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2024. The company, known for its pioneering work in computational target discovery, announced significant corporate developments alongside its financial performance.

Dr. Anat Cohen-Dayag, President and CEO of Compugen, highlighted the successful execution of their plans in Q2 2024. A notable achievement was receiving FDA IND clearance for COM503, a novel antibody approach targeting cytokine biology for cancer treatment. This milestone triggered a $30 million payment from Gilead, a key partner. The company plans to commence a Phase 1 clinical trial for COM503, both as a monotherapy and in combination with the anti-PD1 zimberelimab, in advanced solid tumors by the end of 2024.

Compugen is also on track to present data from its COM701, COM902, and pembrolizumab study for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in Q4 2024. This study addresses a significant unmet medical need, as existing treatment options for this patient group have limitations. Previous data showed encouraging results, including a 20% overall response rate and durable responses with some patients benefiting for over 16 months. The forthcoming data is expected to reinforce the efficacy of COM701 combinations.

In collaboration with AstraZeneca, Compugen is advancing rilvegostomig, a PD-1/TIGIT bispecific antibody. AstraZeneca has set a non-risk-adjusted peak year revenue target of over $5 billion for rilvegostomig, indicating its high potential. Compugen stands to gain from future milestones and mid-single-digit tiered royalty payments, which could be a significant revenue source.

The company projected several upcoming milestones. Key among them is the presentation of proof-of-concept data for the COM701 + COM902 + pembrolizumab study in late 2024, and the initiation of the COM503 Phase 1 trial around the same time. AstraZeneca is also expected to present data from its Phase 1/2 ARTEMIDE-01 trial in the latter half of 2024 and a poster from its Phase 2 GEMINI-Gastric trial at ESMO 2024.

Financially, Compugen reported having approximately $92.3 million in cash and equivalents as of mid-2024, a significant increase from $51.1 million at the end of 2023. This increase is partly attributed to the expected $30 million milestone payment from Gilead. The company projects that this strong cash position will fund operations into 2027, and it currently has no debt.

For the second quarter, Compugen generated $6.7 million in revenues, marking a significant improvement from no revenues in the same period in 2023. This revenue reflects part of an upfront payment from a license agreement with Gilead and a clinical milestone payment from AstraZeneca. Research and development expenses were approximately $6.2 million, down from $7.8 million in Q2 2023, while general and administrative expenses were roughly $2.2 million, slightly less than the previous year.

Net loss for Q2 2024 was about $2.1 million, or $0.02 per share, a substantial reduction from a $9.3 million net loss, or $0.11 per share, in the second quarter of 2023.

Compugen continues to leverage its predictive computational discovery capabilities to identify new drug targets and develop cancer immunotherapies. With two proprietary product candidates, COM701 and COM902, in Phase 1 development and a robust pipeline, the company remains focused on addressing various mechanisms of immune resistance in cancer therapy.