Compugen monetizes royalties to AstraZeneca for up to $90 million

Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN) announced it has amended its licensing agreement with AstraZeneca to monetize a portion of future royalties from the cancer drug rilvegostomig for up to $90 million.

The transaction includes a $65 million upfront payment and a potential additional $25 million upon reaching the next milestone related to Biologics License Application acceptance. Compugen will retain the majority of its future royalties from rilvegostomig and remains eligible for tiered royalties of up to mid-single digits on future sales.

The company also remains eligible for potential future regulatory and commercial milestones of up to $195 million, which includes the $25 million milestone payment mentioned above.

Rilvegostomig is a dual-checkpoint bispecific antibody that delivers coordinated PD-1 and TIGIT blockade. The TIGIT component is derived from Compugen's COM902 antibody. AstraZeneca is advancing the drug through 11 ongoing Phase 3 trials in patients with lung, gastrointestinal, and endometrial cancers.

Compugen expects the transaction to extend its cash runway into 2029, assuming no further cash inflows. The original licensing agreement between the companies was established in March 2018.

"This non-dilutive transaction strengthens our financial position," said Eran Ophir, President and CEO of Compugen. The company described the agreement as enabling continued advancement of its immuno-oncology pipeline while retaining potential upside from rilvegostomig's development.

Compugen is a clinical-stage therapeutic discovery company that uses computational platforms to identify drug targets for cancer immunotherapies. The company is headquartered in Israel with offices in San Francisco.

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