Compugen to Present New Research Enabling Accurate Detection and Study of Novel Target PVRIG at AACR 2023

• Correction of the single cell RNA sequencing GENCODE gene model enables accurate detection and study of the novel target PVRIG, advancing research that could potentially deliver new cancer immunotherapies.

HOLON, Israel, March 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN) (TASE: CGEN), a clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company and a pioneer in computational target discovery, today announced that it will present new research enabling accurate detection and study of the functional relevance of the novel target PVRIG following correction of the GENCODE gene model, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting on April 14-19, 2023, in Orlando, Florida.

"One of the biggest challenges in bringing new treatments to cancer patients, is understanding the complex disease biology," said Anat Cohen-Dayag, Ph.D., President, and CEO of Compugen. "Single cell technology has revolutionized the study of cell populations, particularly immune cells and has been a key technology used by many scientists involved in cancer immunotherapy research. The research we are presenting at AACR identified an inaccuracy in the single cell gene model technology. By correcting the GENCODE gene model, the most widely used gene model in single cell analysis platforms, we believe that we are enabling a more accurate detection of PVRIG, thereby facilitating the advancement of worldwide research of this pathway. We believe that this advancement could lead to the development of new cancer immunotherapies. As a leader in the DNAM-1 axis space, targeting both PVRIG and TIGIT pathways, we are focused on proof-of-concept studies in cancer patients treated with the triple combination of our potential first-in-class anti-PVRIG, COM701 our potential best-in-class anti-TIGIT, COM902, and a PD-1 inhibitor, with the goal of maximizing clinical benefit for patients."

Poster details:

Session Date and Time: Tuesday April 18, 2023, 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM ET
Session Category: Bioinformatics / Computational Biology / Systems Biology / Convergent Science
Session Title: Algorithms and Statistical Methods
Poster Title: Gene model correction for PVRIG and TIGIT in single cell sequencing data enables accurate detection and study of its functional relevance
Published Abstract Number: 4292  

The abstract is available on Compugen's website at www.cgen.com

About Compugen

Compugen is a clinical-stage therapeutic discovery and development company utilizing its broadly applicable predictive computational discovery capabilities to identify new drug targets and biological pathways for developing cancer immunotherapies. Compugen has developed two proprietary product candidates: COM701, a potential first-in-class anti-PVRIG antibody and COM902, a potential best-in-class antibody targeting TIGIT for the treatment of solid tumors. Compugen also has a clinical stage partnered program, rilvegostomig (previously AZD2936), a PD-1/TIGIT bi-specific derived from COM902, that is in Phase 2 development by AstraZeneca through a license agreement for the development of bi-specific and multi-specific antibodies. In addition, the Company's therapeutic pipeline of early-stage immuno-oncology programs consists of programs aiming to address various mechanisms of immune resistance. The most advanced program, COM503 is advancing in IND enabling studies. COM503 is a potential first-in-class, high affinity antibody which blocks the interaction between IL-18 binding protein and IL-18, thereby freeing natural IL-18 to inhibit cancer growth in the tumor microenvironment. Compugen is headquartered in Israel, with offices in San Francisco, CA. Compugen's shares are listed on Nasdaq and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CGEN.

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions of Compugen. Forward-looking statements can be identified using terminology such as "will," "may," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "potential," "plan," "goal," "estimate," "likely," "should," "confident," and "intends," and similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the potential effect of correcting GENCODE as well as its impact in facilitating the advancement of research which could lead to new cancer immunotherapies. 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: clinical development involves a lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome and Compugen may encounter substantial delays or even an inability to begin clinical trials for any specific product or may not be able to conduct or complete our trials on the timelines it expects; clinical trials of any product candidates that Compugen, or any current or future collaborators may conduct, may fail to satisfactorily demonstrate safety and/or efficacy, and Compugen, or any collaborator, may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete the development and commercialization of these product candidates; Compugen cannot provide assurance that our business model will succeed in generating substantial revenues; Compugen's approach to the discovery of therapeutic products is based on its predictive computational discovery capabilities that are not yet fully proven clinically, and Compugen do not know whether it will be able to discover and develop additional potential product candidates or products of commercial value. These risks and other risks 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:
Yvonne Naughton, Ph.D.
Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Email: ir@cgen.com  
Tel: +1 (628) 241-0071 

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SOURCE Compugen Ltd.