Bayer Schering Pharma has inked a deal to evaluate a Compugen-discovered tumor target and its splice variants. Following an initial six-month joint research stage, the agreement provides Bayer with an option for an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing license for development of mAbs and other therapeutic agents addressing these target molecules.
The existence of the target and its splice variants was initially predicted in silico by Compugen through the use of its Monoclonal Antibody Targets Discovery platform. The newly discovered target and its splice variants are variants of a known cancer target for which therapeutic agents are currently in preclinical development by other organizations. Like the known cancer target, this protein molecule and its variants are all trans-membrane proteins. However, each of the Compugen molecules has a unique sequence at the extracellular domain of the protein that enables the development of mAbs specific to each of the respective splice variants.
