BioLineRx to Develop and Commercialize Novel Peptide Drug Candidates Discovered by Compugen
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BioLineRx and Compugen Ltd. have announced that they have entered into a collaboration agreement for the purpose of developing and commercializing mutually selected Compugen-discovered drug candidates for the treatment of various diseases, ranging from acute and chronic inflammatory diseases through cardiac diseases, retinopathy and cancer.
According to the agreement, Compugen will provide promising drug candidates, primarily peptides, which were identified using its predictive drug discovery platforms, while BioLineRx will develop these candidates through Phase II clinical trials, with the goal of ultimately licensing them to pharmaceutical companies for advanced clinical development and commercialization.
The collaboration has been initiated with the mutual selection of three Compugen-discovered peptides. Two of the peptides, named CGEN-855 and CGEN-856, have already undergone proof of concept animal studies and will enter BioLineRx’s main product pipeline as BL-7070.
These peptides will focus on preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases by controlling inflammation and reducing hypertension.
The third peptide, CGEN-25017, which has also undergone proof of concept animal studies, will enter BioLineRx’s pipeline as BL-8010, and is intended for the treatment of diseases characterized by excessive growth of new blood vessels, such as retinopathy and cancer.
In addition, the parties will continue to evaluate other Compugen-discovered drug candidates for development by BioLineRx.
Dr. Kinneret Savitsky, CEO of BioLineRx said, “We are extremely pleased to enter into this strategic partnership with Compugen for the development and commercialization of novel drug candidates. This mutually beneficial agreement is in keeping with our Company strategy of seeking promising therapeutic candidates for our product pipeline and developing them through Phase II clinical trials. We feel that this collaboration is a natural and efficient synergy of the strengths and expertise of each of the two partners, and we are confident that this alliance will prove extremely beneficial to both companies.”
Dr. Anat Cohen-Dayag, Compugen’s President & CEO, stated, “The new partnership between Compugen and BioLineRx is based on combining certain novel peptides discovered through use of the computational predictive discovery approach and capabilities of Compugen, with the proven drug validation and development skills of BioLineRx. We are very pleased with the establishment of this additional pathway for the development and future licensing at the clinical stage of a number of promising Compugen peptide discoveries for unmet medical needs.”
Dr. Cohen-Dayag continued, “Compugen focuses on the discovery and development of novel protein and antibody therapeutics in the fields of oncology and immunology. However, as part of the process of establishing our broadly applicable predictive discovery capabilities, a number of promising potential therapeutic peptides and other potential drug candidates were discovered that are not in these main areas of focus. The goal of this collaboration with BioLineRx and others which have been, or will be, announced, is to advance certain of these promising discoveries, without the need for further Compugen financial resources, but with Compugen sharing in the value created.”
