Compugen (NASDAQ: CGEN) reported Q2 EPS of ($0.08), $0.02 better than the analyst estimate of ($0.10).

"We have reached an exciting phase of development at Compugen, rapidly advancing the clinical evaluation of our DNAM axis hypothesis, suggesting that PVRIG and TIGIT are two parallel and complementary inhibitory pathways in the axis and that blocking both PVRIG and TIGIT may be required in certain tumor types in order to generate or enhance an anti-tumor immune response. Furthermore, these two pathways intersect with the PD-1 pathway and as such, the simultaneous blockade of the three pathways may synergistically enhance anti-tumor immune responses in patient populations where the three are dominant," said Anat Cohen-Dayag, Ph.D., President and CEO of Compugen. "When we first introduced this hypothesis a few years ago, of the three targets, only PD-1 was clinically validated. Remarkably, in the past few quarters, we have shown preliminary signs of clinical activity of PVRIG blockade and more recently clinical validation of TIGIT blockade was presented by others. We believe that this data further confirms our preclinical work and increases our confidence in our hypothesis and the clinical path we are pursuing."

Dr. Cohen-Dayag added, "We are pleased with the progress we are making in advancing the evaluation of our clinical candidates in monotherapy and combination regimens. We are currently enrolling patients in our COM701 Phase 1 monotherapy expansion study, which leverages a biomarker-informed strategy to focus on tumor types where, we believe, the PVRIG/PVRL2 pathway may play a role. In addition, we completed enrollment in the dual combination dose escalation study of COM701 with Opdivo® and plan to provide updated data from this study in the first half of 2021, when we also expect to provide initial results from the COM701 Phase 1 monotherapy expansion study. Furthermore, we are on-track to begin our Phase 1/2 triple combination study testing COM701 with Bristol Myers Squibb's Opdivo® and their investigational TIGIT inhibitor, at the second half of this year, to directly test our DNAM axis hypothesis through the simultaneous blockade of the PVRIG, TIGIT and PD-1 pathways."

"We remain focused on executing our science-driven clinical strategy to, hopefully, broaden the therapeutic potential of checkpoint inhibitors for the benefit of patient populations non-responsive to cancer immunotherapy. As the only company with wholly-owned clinical programs targeting both PVRIG and TIGIT, we are uniquely differentiated in the crowded immuno-oncology space," Dr. Cohen-Dayag concluded.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Compugen (CGEN) click here.