Compugen to Present Experimental Data for its Novel Splice Variant of c-Met Receptor.Data to be presented at GTCBio's Cancer Drugs Research & Development Conference TEL AVIV, Israel -- Compugen Ltd. (Nasdaq:CGEN CGEN Convective Sigmet Generation ) announced today that it will present experimental results for its previously disclosed CGEN-241 therapeutic candidate, a splice variant of c-Met receptor, at GTCBio's Cancer Drugs Research & Development Conference (February 8-9, 2007, Philadelphia, PA). CGEN-241 is a truncated form of the c-Met receptor predicted by Compugen's discovery engine to be encoded by a splice variant and to be secreted from the cell. It comprises part of the extracellular domain and ends in a stretch of unique amino acids. In the assessment of the biological activity of CGEN-241 as an antagonist of the HGF-Met pathway in various assays and model systems, the molecule demonstrated strong inhibition of multiple cellular functions related to this pathway, including cell proliferation, motility motility /mo·til·i·ty/ (mo-til´ite) the ability to move spontaneously.mo´tile Motility Motility is spontaneous movement. and invasion. These findings indicate that CGEN-241 is a potent antagonist of the HGF/Met pathway, with anti-tumorigenic and anti-metastatic activities, suggesting a therapeutic potential. The protein product of the c-Met oncogene oncogene Gene that can cause cancer. It is a sequence of DNA that has been altered or mutated from its original form, the proto-oncogene (see mutation). Proto-oncogenes promote the specialization and division of normal cells. is the tyrosine kinase tyrosine kinase An enzyme intimately linked to signal transduction–ST, either as a receptor-type TK, which participates in transmembrane signaling, or as an intracellular TK, participating in ST to the nucleus; ↑ or ↓ TK activity is associated with receptor for hepatocyte growth factor Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) is a paracrine cellular growth, motility and morphogenic factor. It is secreted by mesenchymal cells and targets and acts primarily upon epithelial cells and endothelial cells, but also acts on haemopoietic progenitor cells. (HGF HGF, n See glucagon. ), and Compugen has discovered soluble variants of this receptor. The HGF-Met pathway is involved in a wide range of biological functions, including cell proliferation and survival, cell migration and invasion, as well as angiogenesis angiogenesis /an·gio·gen·e·sis/ (-jen´e-sis) vasculogenesis; development of blood vessels either in the embryo or in the form of neovascularization or revascularization. an·gi·o·gen·e·sis n. . Inappropriate activation of this signaling pathway has been implicated im·pli·cate tr.v. im·pli·cat·ed, im·pli·cat·ing, im·pli·cates 1. To involve or connect intimately or incriminatingly: evidence that implicates others in the plot. 2. in tumor development tumor development A multistep process that occurs over yrs in which a tissue accumulates genetic hits that eventually translate into a neoplasm with metastatic potential. See One-hit, two-hit model. and progression of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. In view of the critical role that this pathway plays in cancer, various inhibitory strategies have been employed by companies to therapeutically target the pathway and several candidates are currently in development. About Compugen Compugen's mission is to be the world leader in the discovery and licensing of product candidates to the drug and diagnostic industry. The Company's powerful discovery engines enable the predictive discovery of numerous potential therapeutics and diagnostic biomarkers. This capability results from the Company's decade-long pioneering efforts in the deeper understanding of important biological phenomena at the molecular level through the incorporation of ideas and methods from mathematics, computer science and physics into biology, chemistry and medicine. To date, Compugen's diagnostic and therapeutic product discovery efforts and its initial discovery engines have focused mainly within the areas of cancer, immune-related and cardiovascular diseases. The Company's primary commercialization pathway for its therapeutic and diagnostic product candidates is to enter into milestone and revenue sharing out-licensing and joint development agreements with leading companies. Compugen has established an agricultural biotechnology affiliate - Evogene, and a small-molecule drug discovery affiliate - Keddem Bioscience. For additional information, please visit Compugen's corporate Website at www.cgen.com. |
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