AstraZeneca, Compugen in $200M Drug Discovery Tie-up

Compugen, a provider of predictive discovery and development of first-in-class therapeutics for cancer immunotherapy, has entered into an exclusive license agreement with MedImmune (www.medimmune.com), the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, for the development of bi-specific and multi-specific immuno-oncology antibody products.

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.

"We are excited to announce our agreement with MedImmune, a global leader in the development of antibody-based oncology therapeutics," said Anat Cohen-Dayag, president and chief executive officer, Compugen. "This licensing deal allows us to monetize specific scientific advances in our programs, while we continue to advance our lead programs into clinical trials."

Ronald Herbst, vice president, oncology research and development, MedImmune, said, "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."