Compugen Announces Initial Validation of Additional B7/CD28 Protein Family Based Product Candidate
21 June 2011 - 10:06PM
Business Wire
Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN) announced today in vitro validation
of a second product candidate based on Compugen-discovered novel
members of the B7/CD28 co-stimulatory protein family. Proteins
belonging to the B7/CD28 family are of high industry interest in
view of their key roles in regulating immune response and are
viewed as having significant therapeutic potential in multiple
areas of important medical need, including autoimmune diseases,
transplantation and cancer.
Last year, Compugen disclosed its Protein Family Members
Discovery Platform, which relies on Compugen's LEADS and MED
infrastructure platforms and other specialized algorithms for the
discovery of novel protein members belonging to various clinically
important protein families. The initial prediction and selection
activities of this platform have focused on immune related protein
families for which additional members are difficult to discover
using traditional discovery methods. Analysis of the in silico
results from these activities with respect to the B7/CD28 protein
family have to date resulted in the identification of nine
molecules predicted to be previously unknown members of this
intensely and widely studied protein family.
The successful in vitro validation and disclosure of CGEN-15021
follows the previously announced CGEN-15001, which was the first
product candidate based on a Compugen-discovered novel B7/CD28
family member to undergo extensive validation activities.
CGEN-15001 has already demonstrated its therapeutic potential for
treatment of multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis in
numerous in vivo studies. Compugen continues to move forward with
the development of CGEN-15001 in its Pipeline Program, and is also
in discussions with possible partners for its
commercialization.
Both CGEN-15021 and CGEN-15001 are fusion proteins, each
comprised of the extracellular region of a Compugen-discovered
B7/CD28 protein fused to an Fc, an antibody fragment often used to
create soluble therapeutic proteins. Both of these product
candidates have demonstrated, as predicted, inhibition of T cell
activation, suggesting significant therapeutic potential in the
modulation of autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, CGEN-15021T and
CGEN-15001T, the two novel B7/CD28 family membrane proteins that
these product candidates are based on, are predicted to be
over-expressed in solid cancers, suggesting their potential utility
as targets for oncology, in addition to the use of their respective
fusion proteins in autoimmune diseases.
The validation of CGEN-15021, the new Fc-fused protein product
candidate, was performed in Prof. Stephen Miller’s laboratory at
Northwestern University, as was CGEN-15001. These activities,
including further studies on CGEN-15001 and the evaluation of the
other Compugen-discovered B7/CD28 protein family members, are being
performed under an expanded agreement with Prof. Miller and
Northwestern University.
Dr. Zurit Levine, Compugen’s VP of R&D, stated, “We are
extremely pleased to report the validation of another novel member
of this widely studied protein family, which is of substantial
interest to the industry for the development of new therapies for
autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, as well as cancer. This
finding, and the industry interest being shown with respect to
CGEN-15001, confirms our Protein Family Members Discovery Platform
as an important addition to our broadly applicable predictive
discovery infrastructure, and the potential value of its initial
discoveries.
About the B7/CD28 Protein Family of positive
and negative co-stimulatory proteins
Members of the B7/CD28 families have been intensively studied
over the past decade and have brought much excitement to the field
of immune regulation. The activation and development of an adaptive
immune response is initiated by the engagement of a T-cell antigen
receptor with an antigenic peptide-MHC complex. The outcome of this
engagement is determined by both positive and negative
co-stimulatory signals, generated mainly by the interaction between
members of the B7 family ligands and their receptors, mainly
members of the CD28 family. A growing body of evidence indicates
that the dysfunction of immune regulation contributes to the
development of autoimmune diseases.
Positive and negative co-stimulatory pathways play critical
roles in immune regulation and are considered potential targets for
modulating chronic inflammation in autoimmune diseases. To date,
one soluble recombinant fusion protein that selectively blocks the
co-stimulatory signal mediated by the prototype B7/CD28 pathway has
been cleared for marketing in the U.S. for the treatment of
moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, and is in clinical trials
for other autoimmune indications. In addition, a number of clinical
and preclinical studies for therapeutic agents targeting these
protein families are underway at various companies.
About Compugen
Compugen is a leading drug and diagnostic product candidate
discovery company, currently focused on biologics based therapy in
the fields of immunology and oncology. Unlike traditional high
throughput trial and error experimental based discovery, Compugen’s
discovery efforts are based on in silico (by computer) product
candidate prediction and selection utilizing a broad and
continuously growing infrastructure of proprietary scientific
understandings and predictive platforms, algorithms, machine
learning systems and other computational biology tools to address
important unmet therapeutic and diagnostic needs - either for
Compugen or its partners. Compugen’s growing number of
collaborations covering the further development and
commercialization of Compugen discovered product candidates all
provide Compugen with potential milestone payments and royalties on
product sales or other forms of revenue sharing. In 2002, Compugen
established an affiliate, Evogene Ltd. (www.evogene.com)
(TASE:EVGN.TA), to utilize certain of the Company’s in silico
predictive discovery capabilities in agricultural biotechnology.
For additional information, please visit Compugen's corporate
website at www.cgen.com.
This press release may contain “forward-looking statements“
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. These statements include words such as “may”, “expects”,
“anticipates”, “believes”, and “intends”, and describe opinions
about 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. Some of
these risks are: changes in relationships with collaborators; the
impact of competitive products and technological changes; risks
relating to the development of new products; and the ability to
implement technological improvements. These and other factors are
identified and more fully explained under the heading “Risk
Factors“ in Compugen's annual reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
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