Compugen Q1 2024 Results

Compugen Ltd., a clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company based in Holon, Israel, has announced its financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2024, along with significant corporate updates. CEO Anat Cohen-Dayag highlighted the company's progress, especially in its cancer treatment pipeline, and the anticipation for data presentations in 2024.

Key milestones include the upcoming data presentations from ongoing studies. The first set of data will be from a study on microsatellite stable colorectal cancer (MSS CRC), expected to be presented at the ASCO annual meeting in June 2024. This will be followed by data from a study on platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in the fourth quarter of 2024. The MSS CRC data pertains to a patient group with liver metastases, historically unresponsive to immune-oncology therapies. Compugen's approach showed encouraging signs with a 12% overall response rate, although the company sees limitations with the IO-IO approach for MSS CRC at this time.

For the platinum-resistant ovarian cancer study, Compugen is optimistic due to observed deep durable responses and associated immune activation from its COM701 combination treatment. The data from this study is expected to support further steps towards seeking regulatory approval.

Compugen is also preparing for a Phase 1 study of COM503, with an IND submission planned for the second half of 2024. This antibody aims to block the interaction between IL-18 binding protein and IL-18, enhancing the natural anti-tumor activity of IL-18 in the tumor environment. This program has been licensed to Gilead.

Moreover, AstraZeneca, a partner of Compugen, has advanced the PD-1/TIGIT bispecific antibody rilvegostomig into a second Phase 3 trial in nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This progress brings Compugen closer to potential milestone payments and royalties. Data from this trial, known as ARTEMIDE-01, is expected in the second half of 2024.

Financially, Compugen reported having approximately $101.3 million in cash and equivalents as of March 31, 2024. This includes significant payments received from Gilead and AstraZeneca. The company expects the current cash balance, along with an anticipated $30 million milestone payment upon IND clearance for COM503, to sustain its operations until 2027. The company reported $2.6 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2024, primarily from the licensing agreement with Gilead, contrasting with no revenue for the same period in 2023. R&D expenses were approximately $6.4 million, and G&A expenses were about $2.4 million. The net loss for the quarter was roughly $7.3 million, an improvement from the $9.3 million loss in the first quarter of 2023.

Compugen will hold a conference call to discuss these results and future plans. The company specializes in predictive computational discovery to identify novel drug targets and pathways for cancer immunotherapy. Its products include COM701 and COM902, which are in various stages of clinical development, and it continues to explore early-stage immuno-oncology programs. Compugen collaborates with major pharmaceutical companies and leverages its AI-powered discovery platform to maintain a competitive edge in the field.