Compugen Q4 Earnings Call Highlights

Compugen (NASDAQ:CGEN) executives used the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings call to highlight a strengthened balance sheet following a non-dilutive transaction with AstraZeneca, clinical progress across its wholly owned and partnered oncology programs, and strategic priorities that center on advancing its COM-701 ovarian cancer study and supporting Gilead-partnered GS-0321 development.

Non-dilutive AstraZeneca deal extends cash runway

President and CEO Dr. Eran Ophir said Compugen’s most recent milestone in 2025 was a December strategic transaction with AstraZeneca in which the company “monetized a small portion” of future royalties tied to rilvegostomig, AstraZeneca’s PD-1/TIGIT bispecific. Ophir said the deal brought $65 million in upfront, non-dilutive capital and extended Compugen’s expected cash runway into 2029, assuming no further cash inflows.

Chief Financial Officer David Silberman added that the company ended 2025 with approximately $145.6 million in cash, cash equivalents, short-term bank deposits, and marketable securities, a figure that included the $65 million AstraZeneca payment.

Management said the transaction also increased the potential milestone package. Ophir stated the deal provides an additional $25 million at the next milestone event—BLA acceptance—and increases total remaining milestones to up to $195 million from $170 million previously. He emphasized that Compugen retained the “majority” of its royalty interest and remained eligible for “mid-single-digit tiered royalties” on rilvegostomig sales.

In Q&A, Silberman reiterated that the next milestone is tied to BLA acceptance and would include the additional $25 million under the updated economics.

COM-701 trial execution and timing

Ophir pointed to COM-701, Compugen’s potential first-in-class anti-PVRIG antibody, as a central focus. He said the company initiated dosing in the MAIA-ovarian trial in platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer and expanded its footprint by opening sites in the U.S., France, and Israel.

He also referenced data presented at ESMO from a pooled phase 1 analysis in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. According to Ophir, the pooled analysis showed COM-701 was well tolerated and demonstrated “consistent durable responses” in heavily pre-treated patients, particularly among those without liver metastasis. He said Compugen believes these findings support advancing COM-701 into earlier-line settings, including as maintenance therapy in platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer.

Looking ahead, management described MAIA-ovarian as an adaptive trial with a first subtrial designed as a randomized comparison of COM-701 monotherapy versus placebo in the maintenance setting for platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. Ophir said the company is on track for an interim analysis in Q1 2027 and suggested that a positive dataset could support a maintenance monotherapy path to registration and potentially serve as a backbone for combinations in that population.

During Q&A, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michelle Mahler said data maturation is anticipated in the first quarter of 2027, while requirements for registration would depend on the “totality of the data.” She added that the company is planning for success but that subsequent plans or trials are still under discussion and not ready to be disclosed.

Another analyst asked about a timeline shift previously discussed. Ophir said the company had already reported the interim analysis moving to Q1 2027, attributing it to slower opening of major U.S. academic sites. He said the company has now opened all sites—28 sites total—and noted that the ARCAGY-GINECO group approached Compugen and joined the study. Ophir said the company remains on track for the Q1 2027 readout, while also noting that, as with any clinical trial, event accumulation must proceed as expected.

GS-0321 partnered program with Gilead

Compugen also highlighted progress on GS-0321, its anti-IL-18 binding protein antibody licensed to Gilead. Ophir said the company initiated dosing in a phase 1 dose escalation and expansion study and presented a trial-in-progress update at SITC. He emphasized that GS-0321 is an antibody approach designed to harness cytokine biology, describing it as distinct from administering a cytokine directly and citing preclinical data that may suggest safety and efficacy advantages.

Ophir recapped deal economics with Gilead, stating the partner paid $60 million upfront and an additional $30 million upon IND clearance. He said Compugen is eligible for up to $758 million in additional milestones and “single-digit to low double-digit” tiered royalties. He also reminded listeners that the first patient in the phase 1 study was dosed in January 2025 and that the trial includes a dose-escalation portion and a dose-expansion portion.

Asked when investors might see data, Ophir said any disclosure must be aligned with Gilead under the agreement. He said the typical approach would be a scientific conference presentation and that such updates would usually include activity and safety, but he made no commitments on timing.

Rilvegostomig progress and Compugen’s view of TIGIT differentiation

Management repeatedly framed rilvegostomig as a potentially significant long-term value driver while emphasizing that AstraZeneca controls development decisions. Ophir said AstraZeneca is running a “broad late-stage development program,” including 10 active phase III trials, and noted AstraZeneca’s previously stated estimate of more than $5 billion in non-risk-adjusted peak annual revenue potential.

Addressing broader sentiment around TIGIT following recent setbacks in the field, Ophir argued that “antibody format matters” and “clinical and combination strategy matters.” He described rilvegostomig as a PD-1/TIGIT bispecific with reduced Fc functionality intended to coordinate inhibition on the same immune effector cells with cooperative binding. He also said the reduced Fc design may help avoid unwanted depletion of immune effector cells and support a favorable safety profile. He added that AstraZeneca’s trials differ from some prior TIGIT studies and include “novel combinations like ADCs.”

In Q&A, Ophir noted AstraZeneca’s continued expansion of the rilvegostomig program, pointing to a phase III study in gastric cancer in combination with a CLDN18.2 ADC listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, which he said would be the 11th phase III trial when activated. He also clarified that while COM-902 is fully owned by Compugen, AstraZeneca will “move with” rilvegostomig rather than COM-902 itself.

Financial results reflect partnership revenue

Silberman reported that Compugen posted approximately $67.3 million in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2025 and approximately $72.8 million for the full year, compared to $1.5 million and $27.9 million, respectively, in 2024. He said 2025 revenue included the $65 million AstraZeneca upfront payment and a portion of the upfront and IND milestone payments from the Gilead agreement.

R&D expense was approximately $5.5 million in Q4 and $22.8 million for the year, compared to $5.9 million and $24.8 million in the prior-year periods. Silberman attributed the decrease mainly to lower clinical expenses from winding down prior trials, partially offset by higher spending associated with the MAIA-ovarian trial initiated in 2025. General and administrative expense was approximately $2.1 million in Q4 and $8.9 million for the year, down from $2.2 million and $9.4 million in 2024.

Compugen reported net profit of approximately $56.8 million in the fourth quarter, or $0.60 per basic and diluted share, compared to a net loss of $6.1 million, or $0.07 per share, in the year-ago quarter. For the full year, net profit was approximately $35.3 million, or $0.38 per basic and diluted share, versus a net loss of $14.2 million, or $0.16 per share, in 2024.

Ophir said Compugen’s 2026 priorities include continued execution of MAIA-ovarian, ongoing support of GS-0321’s phase 1 study with Gilead, monitoring AstraZeneca’s rilvegostomig program, and continued investment in its early-stage pipeline and “Unigen” AI and machine learning-based discovery platform that generated COM-701, COM-902, and GS-0321.

About Compugen (NASDAQ:CGEN)

Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN) is a clinical-stage therapeutic discovery company that leverages proprietary computational discovery platforms to identify novel immuno-oncology targets and biomarkers. The company combines large-scale biological datasets with machine learning algorithms to generate and validate new therapeutic and diagnostic candidates. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, Compugen also maintains a presence in the United States to support its clinical development and commercial collaborations.

Compugen’s predictive discovery engine scans complex biological systems in silico to reveal previously unrecognized pathways and immune checkpoints involved in cancer progression.