Compugen initiated with an Outperform at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer initiated coverage of Compugen (CGEN) with an Outperform rating and $4 price target. With a sole oncology focus, Compugen is advancing a portfolio of innovative immunotherapy candidates on its own and with large pharma. The firm views lead candidate COM701’s potential as early-line maintenance therapy in ovarian cancer as the main stock driver as it enters Phase 2 development here, having shown a clinical signal in late-stage patients who exhausted available options. Partner AstraZeneca’s (AZN) anti-PD-1/TIGIT bispecific antibody rilvegostomig incorporates Compugen technology and is in five Phase 3 trials in lung and biliary tract cancers, Oppenheimer points out. A more recent collaboration with Gilead (GILD) on first-in-class immune modulator COM503 has entered the clinic. Cash resources should provide runway into 2027, the firm adds.