Gilead Sciences, Compugen Ink Up To $848 Mln Deal For Pre-clinical Antibody Program

(RTTNews) - Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) announced Tuesday an agreement with Holon, Israel-based cancer immunotherapy company Compugen Ltd. (CGEN) to exclusively license its potential first-in-class, pre-clinical antibody program against IL-18 binding protein, including the COM503 drug candidate.

Compugen utilizes its broadly applicable predictive computational discovery capabilities to identify new drug targets and biological pathways for developing novel cancer immunotherapies.

COM503 is a potential first-in-class, high affinity antibody which blocks the interaction between IL-18 binding protein and IL-18, thereby releasing natural IL-18 in the tumor microenvironment and inhibiting cancer growth.

Under the terms of the agreement, Compugen will be responsible for the ongoing pre-clinical development and the future Phase 1 study of COM503. Thereafter, Gilead will have the sole right to develop and commercialize COM503.

Gilead will make Compugen an upfront payment of $60 million and $30 million in a near term milestone payment subject to IND clearance of COM503 expected in 2024. Compugen will also be eligible to receive up to an additional $758 million in future development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, with a total deal value of $848 million.

Compugen will also be eligible to receive single-digit to low double-digit tiered royalties on worldwide net sales.

This transaction with Compugen is expected to reduce Gilead's GAAP and non-GAAP 2023 EPS by approximately $0.03 - $0.05.