Date: 2014-12-18
Type of information: R&D agreement
Compound: B7/CD28-like immune checkpoint candidates
Company: Compugen (Israel) Johns Hopkins University (USA - MD)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: R&D
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Disease:
Details: * On December 18, 2014, Compugen announced the initiation of a multi-year research collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, under the direction of Prof. Drew Pardoll and Dr. Charles Drake. Prof. Pardoll and Dr. Drake, members of Compugen’s Scientific Advisory Board, are pioneers in the field of immuno-oncology. The collaboration will focus on further evaluation of selected novel B7/CD28-like immune checkpoint candidates discovered by Compugen for the potential treatment of cancer. This evaluation will include the candidates’ differentiation profile with respect to known checkpoints and their potential to serve either for monotherapy or in combination with other cancer treatments. This collaborative research will expand Compugen’s ongoing assessment of the biology and mechanism of actions of its novel B7/CD28-like immune checkpoint proteins, and provide access to the world-class immuno-oncology research tools and expertise at Johns Hopkins University. The specific studies under the collaboration will assist Compugen in further substantiating the potential of its novel proteins as targets for cancer immunotherapy. It is anticipated that the results of this collaboration will significantly broaden the underlying scientific knowledge of Compugen’s targets and will support their translation toward the clinic. The selected immune checkpoint candidates included in this collaboration are part of the eleven B7/CD28-like proteins discovered to date by Compugen through the use of its broadly applicable and unique predictive discovery infrastructure. The different characteristics and potential mechanisms of action of these novel candidates as demonstrated in past and ongoing validation studies, show that these drug target candidates have the potential to give rise to multiple first-in-class cancer immunotherapies. Prof. Pardoll is Abeloff Professor of Oncology, Medicine, Pathology and Molecular Biology and Genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Director of the Cancer Immunology Program in the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. For the past two decades, Prof. Pardoll has studied molecular aspects of immune regulation, particularly related to mechanisms by which cancer cells evade elimination by the immune system. Prof. Pardoll has made seminal advances in immunology, including the discovery of new types of immune cells and regulatory mechanisms. Dr. Drake specializes in cancer immunotherapies, focusing on immune checkpoints and cancer vaccines. He has significant experience conducting clinical trials involving these therapies. He is Co-Director of the Multi-disciplinary Prostate Cancer Clinic at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore, Maryland, and is an Associate Professor, Medical Oncology, Immunology, and Urology. Dr. Drake is also a member of the Prostate Cancer Foundation Scientific Advisory Board.
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