Compugen, Bayer Join Hands For Antibody-Based Cancer Immunotherapies

(RTTNews) - Compugen Ltd. (CGEN) reported signing a collaboration and license agreement for the research, development, and commercialization of antibody-based therapeutics for cancer immunotherapy against two novel Compugen discovered immune checkpoint regulators. Pursuant to this, Bayer HealthCare and Compugen would jointly pursue a preclinical research program. Subsequently, Bayer would have complete control over further development and have global commercialization rights for potential cancer therapeutics.

Pusuant to the deal, Compugen would receive an upfront payment of $10 million, and is eligible to receive more than $500 million in potential milestone payments for both programs, excluding milestone payments of up to $30 million associated with preclinical activities. Further, Compugen is eligible to receive mid to high single digit royalties on global net sales of any resulting products under the collaboration.

The immunotherapy approach aims at combatting cancer by stimulating the body's own immune cells.