Earnings Labs

Compugen Ltd. (CGEN)

Q1 2013 Earnings Call· Thu, Apr 25, 2013

$2.73

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Transcript

Martin Gerstel

Management

On behalf of my associates and all the employees of Compugen, welcome to our Q1 2013 conference call. Thanks for joining us. This is a very exciting rewarding time for Compugen after more than a decade of world-class multidisciplinary focused research leading to multiple scientific breakthroughs in the predictive understanding of key biological phenomena documented in part by more than 70 peer reviewed scientific papers. We have accomplished something that many thought was impossible. Compugen now has a broadly applicable and validated computer-based discovery infrastructure that can predict the sequences of novel molecules and their expected biological activity. During the past three years, we have utilized this capability to address our first focused discovery effort, the discovery of B7/CD28 have been checkpoint proteins. This area of research is one of the, if not the area of highest pharmaceutical interest. The results of this first focused program have far exceeded even our most optimistic expectations and we now have a wide and attractive early stage pipeline in this important field. More recently as we have begun disclosing product candidate performance, both the potential of these product candidates and the uniqueness of our capabilities are rapidly becoming recognized within the industry and the scientific community. Furthermore, only when one recognizes that all of these product candidates that are now attracting so much interest are the result of using our unique predictive infrastructure in only the first focused discovery program in our selective fields of focus; immunology and oncology. Again the full potential of what has been created at Compugen began to be appreciated. In view of reaching this critical space for our company, earlier this year, we for the first time disclosed our key corporate objectives for the year. These objectives clearly reflect the power and potential that can now be harvested…

Dikla Czaczkes Axselbrad

Management

Thank you, Martin. As mentioned by Martin rather than review the full financial results for the quarter which are described in today's press release, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss in more details the amended funding agreement with Baize and our ATM equity program Cantor Fitzgerald. First, I would like to briefly comment on our financial status. The $5 million received from Baize a few days ago are of course not included in our recorded cash and cash related account, which was approximately $25 million as of the end of the first quarter of 2013. In addition this $25 million do not include the market value of our remaining Evogene shares, which has a current market value of approximately $5 million. With respect to our funding agreements with Baize, we entered into the first of the two Baize agreements in 2010 to allow the continuity of accelerated pipeline program candidate development which was just being initiated at the time. The second agreement in 2011 was intended to help finance the establishment of our California monoclonal antibody operation which is not yet began. Please note that in both instances the company has sufficient funds on hand to undertake these activities without entering into this agreement. However, doing so would have resulted in higher expenditures and lower cash reserves in the short-term. Since we had concluded that the acceleration of these efforts in support of our new check points and other program was justified in terms of the potential of increased shareholder value. We evaluated various alternatives to allow us to aggressively move forward, but in a manner consistent with our conservative financial management. The Baize agreement met these objectives, providing us with the required additional cash in a manner resulting in minimal dilution to our shareholders. Earlier this…

Anat Cohen-Dayag

Management

Thank you, Dikla. As Martin mentioned in today’s call, I would like to briefly update you regarding our progress in meeting each of our key corporate objectives for 2013 that were disclosed in our year-end 2012 press release. Our first objective for this year is to enter into collaboration arrangements covering the development and commercialization of two or more of the Company’s pipeline candidates. Here, I am pleased to report that significant progress is being made in our ongoing commercialization negotiation and we continue to see increased interest by additional companies in our pipeline candidates. Therefore, we remain confident that we are on track to accomplish this objective. Our second objective is to choose one or more pipeline candidates for further development through initial human clinical trials for the company. We will discuss progress related to these objective later in the year based on the results of additional scientific studies analyzing the product profile of our leading candidates and after further assessment of the competitive end market outlook for each. The next objective is to undertake process development towards GMP manufacture of one of our lead Fc fusion protein candidate. We are making good progress towards the selection of a lead monitor for one of our Fc fusion candidate for autoimmune diseases that we then expect to advance into process development. Ongoing studies involve further testing of its efficacy and mode of action in selected autoimmune experimental models. The fact that our molecules are derived from novel proteins is seen as a significant advantage in terms of their potential value. The opportunity to have a first in class drug is very attractive in the industry. However such novel proteins make the drug research and development process more challenging. To make the right decision throughout the process, we have to uncover…

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we’ll begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) In order to provide as many participants as possible with opportunity to ask their questions, we kindly request that you will ask only one question at a time with a maximum of one short follow-up question. (Operator Instructions) The first question is from Mara Goldstein of Cantor Fitzgerald. Please go ahead. Mara Goldstein – Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.: Thanks, very much. I apologize because I had to hop on the call late, but it seems obviously that you’ve undergone some type of strategic review and implemented a plan behind that and I was wondering if you might just discuss what was the impetus for that? And if at this juncture, you are complete with that or this year more to come?

Dikla Czaczkes Axselbrad

Management

May you elaborate a bit about just verify for us what do you mean with respect to strategic review? Mara Goldstein – Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.: Well, in terms of – it seems as if you are reprioritizing programs and maybe changing resource allocation, things like that.

Dikla Czaczkes Axselbrad

Management

Okay, I got it. Thank you, Mara. This is very interesting. We are having multiple opportunities in our pipeline and we are advancing forward programs based on priority. You are aware of the fact that we have discovered immune checkpoint program and also other programs that are interrelated to another immune modulation type of proteins or totally other different type of proteins that work for other mechanism of action. And we're pushing forward the immunomodulatory program mainly the immune checkpoint program is very hard forward, but with certain priority. Based on the current interest in the industry as I said the general interest that the industry has in immune checkpoint and the industry interest in our checkpoint, we have decided that those that we have prioritized to a lower extent in our pipeline, we’ve decided to push them more up in the pipeline in order to make sure that we are using very efficiently the time window that this immune checkpoint programs should meet. I think that probably you are aware of the fact that the results that were generated by Bristol-Myers Squibb for these anti-CTLA-4 and Anti–PD-1 have generated a lot of enthusiasm and other pharma companies were following it with early stage program, pre-clinical Phase I, and we want to make sure that we are extracting the maximal value from our programs that are in the pipeline and this is the reason for the change. Mara Goldstein – Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.: Okay. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

The next question is from [Ken Farber]. Please go ahead.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

All right, thank you. Even for me and I can feel the excitement here today, so I appreciate this conference call, it’s quite helpful. I have a couple of questions that are sort of older questions, and I just want to get a sense of follow-up. Is the work at the University of Pittsburgh and with Dr. Miller’s Lab at Northwestern continuing?

Anat Cohen-Dayag

Management

Yes, definitely, and we are very happy with the work that is done there.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

So both of those projects are ongoing?

Anat Cohen-Dayag

Management

Yes, definitely. Martin, would you like to add?

Martin Gerstel

Management

No, I just say, I think because these arrangements involve third-parties and they are sort of out of our control. I just would prefer that we not comment on the stated development….

Anat Cohen-Dayag

Management

I fully agree, so I was answering for this one, but bear in mind for next time we are not going to provide additional details.

Martin Gerstel

Management

So it puts us in a very awkward position with respect to these other organizations that many of whom we will obviously want to publish or announce results when they feel it’s appropriate for competitive reasons, don’t want to – would prefer that we not keep the world up to-date with what’s going on. So just…

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

The question I was asking, I was – the only question I was asking in over the years, you have identified a series of collaborations. And as a shareholder, I feel like we are never updated as to whether those collaborations are still ongoing notwithstanding the details of where they are. And it is helpful to know when you’ve made press releases that something has started to also know if it is ongoing or if it’s been completed without necessarily divulging the results of that.

Dikla Czaczkes Axselbrad

Management

At last quarter we do understand and they do want to maintain to [rise rates] what Martin said. I did answer this, but I fully agree with Martin it is. We can’t specify and relates to a specific collaboration, we can have general statement and we will do so.

Martin Gerstel

Management

I also like to make a comment that, as we were built in the infrastructure and validating, the only thing you can validate something as to discover something. And almost all of our higher agreements that we entered into the collaborations of different types, our licensing arrangements, all of them were on these almost accidental, I mean calling accidental was not a good word, because it was a very focused research. But they weren’t in the category of this, of when actually having our infrastructure in place going forward with our first really focused discovery effort twined to discover this, the first ones name to be (inaudible). So these, I literally, I look at all of these past agreements as kind of the icing on the cake. They are out there, some of them are hopefully, and I expect some of them are going to lead to some nice outcome and appears that, then I can say it’s now, because it was public, it appears that the mix is moving forward nicely. But I would, I strongly infer if anyone is investing in us because of these earlier agreements, they should sell their stock. That is not the reason to invest in our company. This is the icing on the cake. I mean what we are is a company that is created an amazing infrastructure we’ve now validated it, we’ve proven it with our first focus one where we have vaulted our self into a leading position in one of the if not they are prominent in areas of pharmaceutical research from out and nowhere companies that have been working in this field for decade or more. And suddenly we’re right up there with them with respect to the discovery capabilities and the pipeline that we’ve established. So I really would hope that people for, whatever their decision is, they should, they really should be looking at our company now with respect to the infrastructure that we have this first and set of products and the types of agreements that we will be entering into as we talked about starting this year.

Operator

Operator

Mr. Farber, does that answer your question?

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Yes. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

(Operator Instructions) There are no further at this time. Before I ask Dr. Cohen Dayag to go ahead with your closing statement, I would like to remind participants that our replay of this call is scheduled to begin in two hours for a period of 72 hours. In the U.S. please call 1-888-782-4291, in Israel, please call 039-255-918, internationally please call 972-3925-5918. Dr. Cohen Dayag, would you like to make your concluding statement.

Anat Cohen-Dayag

Management

Thank you. I want to thank all of you for participating in today’s conference call. We’re glad to have this opportunity to bring you up to-date with our progress and hope you find this call informative. Last but not least, I personally want to thank all our long-term shareholders for their support and the confidence that they have shown in us. We look forward to providing a further update in our second quarter call.