Compugen Ltd (NASDAQ: CGEN)

Compugen Ltd is a clinical-stage therapeutic discovery and development company that uses its Unigen AI/ML powered computational platform to identify novel drug targets and develop therapeutics in cancer immunotherapy. The company concentrates on immune checkpoint biology and has advanced a pipeline of antibody-based programs that includes COM701 (anti-PVRIG), COM902 (anti-TIGIT), rilvegostomig (a PD-1/TIGIT bispecific derived from COM902) and GS-0321 (an anti-IL-18BP antibody). COM701 and COM902 are being evaluated in multiple clinical trials, with COM701 currently tested in a blinded randomized ovarian cancer platform trial (MAIA-ovarian) as maintenance therapy in relapsed platinum sensitive ovarian cancer, with interim analysis expected in the first quarter of 2027. Rilvegostomig is being developed by AstraZeneca under an exclusive license and is undergoing Phase 3, Phase 2 and Phase 1 studies, while GS-0321 is licensed to Gilead and is being evaluated in a Phase 1 trial sponsored by Compugen. The firm’s strategy integrates computational target prediction with experimental validation to progress discoveries from in silico identification through preclinical testing into clinical development.

Compugen Ltd generates revenue primarily through licensing and collaboration agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners. These agreements generally comprise upfront fees, milestone payments linked to development, regulatory or commercial events, and tiered royalties on net sales of the licensed products. The Gilead license for GS-0321 provided a $60 million upfront license payment (net $51 million after withholding) in January 2024 and a $30 million milestone payment (net $25.5 million) upon IND clearance in the third quarter of 2024, with eligibility for up to approximately $758 million in additional milestone payments and entitlement to single-digit to low double-digit tiered royalties on worldwide net sales. The AstraZeneca agreement for rilvegostomig included a $10 million upfront payment and the right to receive up to $200 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones; to date the company has recognized $2 million in 2020 as a preclinical milestone, $6 million in 2021, $7.5 million in 2022, $10 million in 2023 and $5 million in 2024 as clinical milestones tied to patient dosing in successive trials. Following an amendment dated December 16 2025, Compugen sold a portion of its royalty interest in rilvegostomig to AstraZeneca for a $65 million upfront payment received in December 2025 and secured an additional $25 million added to the next milestone payment (first acceptance of a BLA), while retaining eligibility for up to $195 million in future milestones and mid-single-digit tiered royalties on future sales. The Bristol Myers Squibb collaboration yielded a $12 million investment at the outset of the master clinical trial agreement in October 2018 and a further $20 million investment in November 2021, both representing a 33% premium over the prevailing share price and resulting in the issuance of 4,757,058 ordinary shares. Compugen also bears the costs of the Phase 1 trials it sponsors, such as the GS-0321 study, while receiving study drug supplies from partners (e.g., zimberelimab from Gilead) under the respective agreements.

Compugen Ltd operates in the highly competitive immuno-oncology sector, where it contends with large pharmaceutical companies, specialized biotechnology firms and academic groups that are pursuing similar immune-checkpoint targets. The global immune checkpoint inhibitors market was estimated at $58.53 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach approximately $229.60 billion by 2034, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 16.40% from 2025 to 2034, underscoring the sector’s rapid expansion. Within this landscape, Compugen’s competitive advantage stems from its Unigen platform, which couples AI/ML driven target discovery with deep immuno-oncology expertise, enabling the identification of novel checkpoints such as PVRIG and TIGIT that have progressed to clinical testing. This integrated approach differentiates the company from rivals that rely exclusively on traditional experimental methods or literature-based mining, as it allows rapid iteration from computational hypothesis to preclinical validation and clinical testing. Furthermore, the company holds a portfolio of issued patents (78 as of February 1 2026) and pending applications that protect its discovered targets and associated therapeutic candidates, providing a barrier to imitation. Despite these strengths, Compugen faces ongoing competition from entities that employ their own AI/ML platforms or alternative discovery methods to pursue overlapping targets in the immuno-oncology space.

Compugen Ltd serves pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners that license its drug targets or co-develop therapeutic candidates. Specific customers disclosed in the filing include Gilead, which holds an exclusive license to develop and commercialize GS-0321; AstraZeneca, which develops rilvegostomig under an exclusive license that originated from a 2018 agreement and was amended in December 2025; and Bristol Myers Squibb, which collaborates on COM701 clinical trials through a master clinical trial agreement and has made equity investments in the company. These relationships typically involve upfront payments, milestone funding, royalties and, in the case of Bristol Myers Squibb, direct equity stakes, thereby providing Compugen with non-dilutive capital and validation of its pipeline. In addition to the named partners, the company indicates that it seeks to enter into further collaborations with other pharma and biotech entities to expand its revenue-sharing arrangements and broaden the development of its early-stage research programs.