Compugen to collaborate with US co Medarex
The companies will jointly discover and develop drugs through the use of their complementary platforms.
Gali Weinreb 23 Jan 07 18:56
Compugen Ltd. (Nasdaq: CGEN; TASE: CGEN) has signed an agreement with Medarex Inc. (Nasdaq:MEDX) to jointly discover and develop drugs through the use of their complementary platforms. Compugen knows how to discover and model receptors on cells, while Medarex knows how to produce antibodies adapted to these receptors that will become the basis for drugs.
The companies will jointly develop novel monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for oncology and autoimmune diseases. They plan to share discovery, development and commercialization responsibilities on antibody-based therapeutics resulting from this collaboration, and share revenues generated from the sale of such therapeutic products.
Although it is difficult at this stage to quantify the expected revenue for Compugen from the agreement, it is clear that this is a strategic agreement for the company. Medarex, which has a market cap of $1.7 billion, is the leading developer of antibody-based therapeutics in the world. The company has 36 candidate molecules for drugs at various stages of clinical trials, including six undergoing Phase III trials. Medarex is jointly developing some of these drugs with other companies, including industry leaders Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq:AMGN), Bristol-Myers-Squibb Inc. (NYSE: BMY), Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY), and Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS; LSE: NOV; SWX: NOVZ). Other drugs under development are wholly owned by Medarex. The company posted $56 million revenue in 2005 from these activities, and its revenue is expected to rise sharply if and when one of its drugs is approved for marketing.
Compugen president CEO Alex Kotzer said, “Under the agreement, Medarex will bring us ideas for targets that it wants to develop for drugs. We will find the target receptors and model them so that Medarex can develop molecules for therapeutics. Our development teams will soon hold their first joint meeting to decide where to begin.”
Medarex chairman and interim president and CEO Irwin Lerner said, “We are pleased with this opportunity to pair our UltiMAb Human Antibody Development System technology with new disease targets that may be generated by Compugen's target discovery capabilities and to potentially develop novel therapeutics to fight serious and life-threatening conditions."
This is Compugen’s first agreement for drug development. The company has three strategic agreements for diagnostic products development with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. (OCD), Diagnostic Products Corporation (recently acquired by Siemens AG (NYSE: SI; XETRA: SIE)), and Biosite Inc. (Nasdaq:BSTE). Compugen is also developing by itself a number of molecules that it discovered with its platform. The most advanced molecules include treatments for metastasized cancer, anti-immune diseases, and cardiovascular diseases.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on January 23, 2007
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
