AstraZeneca Unit In Licensing Deal With Compugen On Immuno-Oncology Antibody Products

Compugen Ltd., a therapeutic discovery and development company, has entered into an exclusive license agreement with MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, to enable the development of bi-specific and multi-specific immuno-oncology antibody products.

Under the terms of the agreement, Compugen will provide an exclusive license to MedImmune for the development of bi-specific and multi-specific antibody products derived from a Compugen pipeline program. MedImmune has the right to create multiple products under this license and will be solely responsible for all research, development and commercial activities under the agreement.

Compugen will receive a $10 million upfront payment and is eligible to receive up to $200 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones for the first product as well as tiered royalties on future product sales.

If additional products are developed, additional milestones and royalties would be due to Compugen. Compugen will retain all other rights to its entire pipeline of programs as monotherapies and in combination with other products.

“This licensing deal allows us to monetize specific scientific advances in our programs, while we continue to advance our lead programs into clinical trials,” Anat Cohen-Dayag, Ph.D., president and CEO of Compugen, said.

Ronald Herbst, vice president, oncology research & development, at MedImmune commented, “This agreement with Compugen will support our abilities to generate novel immunotherapy targets which, coupled with MedImmune’s expertise in antibody engineering, can advance our goal of delivering treatments to meaningfully improve the lives of cancer patients.”