Compugen and AstraZeneca agree to monetize rilvegostomig future royalties

Compugen (CGEN) announced that it has agreed with AstraZeneca to monetize a portion of Compugen’s rilvegostomig future royalties. Compugen has amended the exclusive license agreement with AstraZeneca (AZN), previously entered into in March 2018, to strengthen Compugen’s balance sheet and advance its innovative and differentiated immuno-oncology pipeline. Key Transaction Highlights include: $65M upfront payment and a potential additional $25M upon the next milestone payment on BLA acceptance, for a portion of Compugen’s existing royalty interest in rilvegostomig; Compugen shall retain the majority of its future royalties and remain eligible for tiered royalties of up to mid-single digits on future sales and potential future regulatory and commercial milestones of up to $195M. The amount includes the $25M stated above. AstraZeneca is developing rilvegostomig, a first-in-class dual-checkpoint bispecific that delivers co-ordinated PD-1 and TIGIT blockade on the same immune effector cell, restoring antitumor immune activity and supporting the potential for durable, long-term outcomes. The TIGIT component of rilvegostomig is derived from Compugen’s fully owned COM902 which is one of only two clinical-stage Fc-reduced anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibodies currently in development. AstraZeneca is advancing rilvegostomig in a broad development program including 11 ongoing Phase 3 trials in patients with lung, gastrointestinal, and endometrial cancers.