Compugen's stock rockets on deal with Gilead for anti-tumor drug

By Steve Gelsi

Shares are halted for volatility but rise to highest levels since mid-2022 on resumed trading

Compugen Ltd.'s stock rallied by 151% on Tuesday after the company said it has agreed to sell exclusive rights to Gilead Sciences Inc. for later-stage development and commercialization of anti-IL-18 binding protein antibodies with potential to treat cancerous tumors.

Compugen (CGEN) and Gilead Sciences (GILD) said the deal is valued at up to $848 million, including a $60 million up-front payment, a $30 million near-term milestone payment and an additional $758 million in future development, regulatory and commercial-milestone payments.

Compugen will be responsible for ongoing preclinical development and the future Phase 1 study of COM503, which the company described as a "potential first-in-class, high affinity antibody."

COM503 is designed to block the interaction between IL-18 binding protein and interleukin 18, thereby releasing natural IL-18 in the tumor microenvironment and inhibiting cancer growth.

Gilead's stock was down by 0.1%.

Compugen's stock was halted during the session due to volatility. The stock surged by $1.10 to trade at $1.83 a share, its highest level since July 2022.

Founded in 1993, Israel-based Compugen specializes in therapeutic and diagnostic biomarker product candidates, including proteins and monoclonal antibodies.

The stock has traded between 53 cents a share and $1.49 a share in the past 52 weeks, according to FactSet data.

Also read: Gilead stock rises, then falls, on top-, bottom-line beats

-Steve Gelsi

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12-19-23 1052ET

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