Benzinga | Jul 19, 2021 07:11AM EDT

Compugen Doses First Patient in Phase 1/2 Triple Combination Cohort Expansion of COM701 with Opdivo and Bristol Myers Squibb's Anti-TIGIT Antibody, BMS-986207

Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ:CGEN), a clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company and a leader in predictive target discovery, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in the cohort expansion arm of the Phase 1/2 study evaluating the triple combination of COM701, Compugen's first-in-class anti-PVRIG antibody, with Opdivo(r) (nivolumab) and Bristol Myers Squibb's investigational anti-TIGIT antibody, BMS-986207.

"We continue to push forward as leaders in the DNAM axis space and as the only company evaluating a potential synergistic triple blockade of PVRIG, TIGIT and PD-1 in the clinic," said Anat Cohen-Dayag, Ph.D., President and CEO of Compugen. "We believe that the future of immuno-oncology will be driven by combination therapy and this study examining our three-pathway hypothesis is an important component of our overall strategy and a key differentiator for Compugen in the TIGIT space. The study is designed to evaluate simultaneous blockade of three immune checkpoint pathways, PVRIG, TIGIT and PD-1 and test the hypothesis that blockade of both PVRIG and TIGIT, parallel DNAM pathways, may be required in certain tumor types to generate or enhance an anti-tumor immune response. The initiation of the cohort expansion phase of the study, allowing us to focus with the selected dose for expansion on specific patient populations where we believe the DNAM axis is dominant, is an important step to examine the potential benefit of this unique immunotherapy combination in a broader range of patients. We are on track to report preliminary data from the triple combination dose escalation arm of the study in the fourth quarter of this year."

Dr. Cohen-Dayag added, "We are delighted to have Bristol Myers Squibb as our partner in this study and are pleased to have their continued support and commitment to the collaboration."

The open-label Phase 1/2 trial is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and preliminary antitumor activity of COM701 in combination with Opdivo(r) and BMS-986207. Additional information is available at www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04570839).

Opdivo(r) is a trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.