Teva-Compugen Alliance Yields Biomarkers for Detection of Drug-Induced Kidney Toxicity

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries exercised its option to utilize biomarkers discovered by Compugen for early detection of drug-induced nephrotoxicity. Compugen will also commercially introduce the markers through licensing arrangements during the second half of this year.

This biomarker combination was discovered under a collaboration between Compugen and Teva initiated in 2007. Validation results reportedly demonstrate that the biomarker signature may enable a much earlier prediction of drug-induced kidney toxicity during preclinical trials in rats in comparison to traditional diagnostic methods such as histopathology or clinical chemistry. In addition, the biomarker combination successfully predicted the relative levels of toxicity of the compounds that were tested, according to the company.

Compugen used its computational tools, discovery engines, and nucleic acid testing platforms as well as data derived from biological samples collected by Teva in a preclinical study designed specifically for this project.

The business terms for the collaboration provided Teva with the royalty-free right to use any discovered markers for internal R&D activities. Compugen retained the commercialization rights for licensing such markers to other companies as well as rights for internal use.