Compugen Announces Initial Validation of Additional B7/CD28 Protein Family Based Product Candidate

Compugen Ltd. 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.