On July 28, 2021 Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN), a clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company and a leader in predictive target discovery, reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021 (Press release, Compugen, JUL 28, 2021, View Source [SID1234585276]).
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
"Our continued execution in the clinic, which includes the recent initiation of three clinical studies, further strengthens Compugen’s leadership position in the DNAM axis space," said Anat Cohen-Dayag, Ph.D., President and CEO of Compugen. "These new studies expand our comprehensive evaluation of the DNAM axis and leave us uniquely positioned as the only company, in a clinical setting, evaluating anti-PVRIG, anti-TIGIT and anti-PD-1 combinations, which is our key differentiator in the TIGIT space. We expect the remainder of the year to include data readouts from our triple combination study in collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb and COM902 monotherapy study, which we expect to expand the foundation of our clinical data generated to date."
Dr. Cohen-Dayag continued, "The updated data from our COM701 Phase 1 combination and monotherapy studies presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) support our continued excitement in our science and potential benefit it may bring to patients, showing durable responses and disease control in patients not eligible for or typically not responding to checkpoint inhibitors including those with prior progression. In addition, we shared our first preliminary pharmacodynamic biomarker data indicating that treatment with COM701 leads to immune activation and has the potential to drive anti-tumor activity in non-inflamed tumors as evidenced by activity in selected PD-L1 low, PVRL2 positive patients. Our combination strategy around our wholly owned assets targeting PVRIG and TIGIT give us a strong first mover advantage, and we look forward to continued progress through 2021 as we work to elucidate the potential of the DNAM axis pathways in immunotherapy."
Recent and Second Quarter 2021 Corporate Highlights
Presented updated data from the COM701 monotherapy and combination with Opdivo (nivolumab) studies at the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2021 Annual Meeting including:
– Durable responses beyond one year, including one complete response, in tumor types typically unresponsive to checkpoint inhibitors
– Preliminary biomarker data reveal immune activation evidenced by a trend of increased proliferation of peripheral immune cells and IFNγ. IFNγ increased with increasing doses of COM701, suggesting the observed activity is likely derived from the combination treatment and not Opdivo alone
– Preliminary anti-tumor activity in PD-L1 low, PVRL2 positive patients, with non-inflamed tumor microenvironment/immune desert phenotype
Dosed the first patient in the Phase 1b cohort expansion study of COM701 in combination with Opdivo in patients with ovarian, breast, endometrial and microsatellite-stable colorectal cancers
Dosed the first patient in the Phase 1 dual combination study of COM902 and COM701 in patients with advanced malignancies, the first clinical study of dual blockade of TIGIT and PVRIG independent of anti-PD-1
Dosed the first patient in the Phase 1/2 triple combination cohort expansion of COM701 with Opdivo and Bristol Myers Squibb’s anti-TIGIT antibody, BMS-986207
Presented research at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) Targets for Cancer Immunotherapy: A Deep Dive Seminar Series, supporting PVRIG as a novel and differentiated checkpoint in the DNAM axis
Financial Results
R&D expenses for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, were $6.8 million compared with $4.4 million for the comparable period in 2020. The increase in R&D expenses reflects the strong execution and expansion of the Phase 1 clinical programs.
General and administrative expenses for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, were $2.7 million compared with $2.1 million for the comparable period in 2020. The increase in expenses is attributed mainly to corporate related expenses.
Net loss for the second quarter of 2021 was $9.5 million, or $0.11 per basic and diluted share, compared with a net loss of $6.2 million, or $0.08 per basic and diluted share, in the comparable period of 2020.
As of June 30, 2021, cash, cash related accounts, short-term and long-term bank deposits totaled approximately $111 million, compared with approximately $124 million on December 31, 2020. The Company has no debt.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
The Company will hold a conference call today, July 28, 2021, at 8:30 AM ET to review its second quarter 2021 results. To access the live conference call by telephone, please dial 1-866-744-5399 from the U.S., or +972-3-918-0644 internationally. The call will also be available via live webcast through Compugen’s website, located at the following link. Following the live audio webcast, a replay will be available on the Company’s website.