Compugen announces an agreement with Teva covering a protein variant of MCP1 for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases

The agreement includes research cooperation and an option to grant global rights to nature

Compugen announced that it has signed an agreement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ:TEVA) covering CGEN-54, a new protein variant of MCP-1 discovered by Compugen. The agreement covers initial research collaboration and also an option to Teva for exclusive worldwide development and commercialization rights.
CGEN-54, a drug candidate for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, is one of a large number of alternative splicing products that Compugen discovered with the help of a unique computerized discovery engine. This discovery engine is based on the company's leading ability in the field of alternative splicing, which allows to identify new versions of clinically important proteins, using a unique model of the human transcriptome (the expression mechanism of the human genome).
According to the agreement, Compugen will supply Teva with research quantities of CGEN-54, with which Teva will conduct additional validation experiments in animals. Teva received from Compugen an option to enter into an exclusive agreement for the development and international commercialization of any product resulting from the research in exchange for the payment of milestones and royalties.
CGEN-54 is a new variant of the MCP1 protein, but has inhibitory (antagonistic) activity. MCP1, also called CCL2, belongs to the CC protein family and is expressed in the body in response to various inflammatory stimuli. The binding of this protein to its receptor, CCR2, results in the migration of immune system cells to the site of inflammation, often causing chronic inflammation. CGEN-54 is an alternative splicing product of MCP1 that has shown the ability to inhibit MCP1-related activities. The inhibition of the MPC1-CCR2 activity pathway represents a promising option for controlling disease progression in several chronic inflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
"One of the first discovery engines we developed was for predicting alternative splicing products of known proteins. A number of attractive drug candidates – including the novel version of MCP1 – have been predicted and subsequently developed and initially validated by Compugen,” said Alex Kutzer, CEO and President of Compugen. "We are very happy that the first cooperation agreement we have signed, covering one of these candidates, is with Teva, a leading company in the field of chronic inflammatory diseases and our partner in other fields."

About Compugen
Compugen aims to be the global leader in discovering and licensing potential product development for the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industry. The company's unique discovery engines enable the discovery of a large number of drugs and potential diagnostic markers. This ability stems from a decade of efforts to deeply understand important biological phenomena at the molecular level, by combining ideas and methods from the fields of mathematics, computer science and physics, with in-depth understanding and knowledge of biology, chemistry and medicine.
To date, Compugen's discovery efforts and its first discovery engines have focused primarily on cancer, autoimmune diseases, and heart disease. The company's main commercialization route for its drugs and potential diagnostic products is through the granting of licenses and joint development of products, for which it receives payments for milestones in the development process and rewards from the sale of the future product.