Compugen's Stock Increases Following Royalty Agreement with AstraZeneca
Compugen's Stock Surge: Compugen's shares rose approximately 16% in premarket trading following an agreement with AstraZeneca to monetize future royalties from its cancer drug rilvegostomig.
Agreement Details: AstraZeneca amended a 2018 license deal to acquire part of Compugen's royalty interest, while Compugen retains the majority of future royalties as the drug is in late-stage development for various cancers.
Financial Impact: The deal provides Compugen with $65 million upfront and a potential additional $25 million contingent on FDA marketing application acceptance, extending its cash runway into 2029.
Future Prospects: The non-dilutive financing is expected to support Compugen's ongoing development efforts and financial stability as it advances its cancer treatment initiatives.
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- Clinical Trial Results: The DESTINY-Breast05 phase 3 trial demonstrated that ENHERTU reduced the risk of invasive disease recurrence or death by 53% compared to T-DM1, indicating its potential as a new standard of care in early breast cancer treatment.
- Regulatory Progress: The European Medicines Agency has validated the marketing authorization application for ENHERTU, marking the commencement of the scientific review process, which is expected to expedite its availability for eligible patients in need of better treatment options.
- Patient Recruitment: The DESTINY-Breast05 trial enrolled 1,635 patients across Asia, Europe, and North America, showcasing the drug's broad applicability and potential market reach on a global scale.
- Future Development Directions: Additional regulatory submissions for ENHERTU are underway, including its combination with pertuzumab for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic HER2 positive breast cancer, highlighting its potential across multiple indications.
- Surge in Deal Count: According to PharmCube, the Greater China region signed 186 cross-border licensing deals worth $137.7B in 2025, marking a nearly tenfold increase from 65 deals valued at $13.9B in 2021, highlighting the growing appeal of the Chinese market for global pharmaceutical companies.
- Industry Trend Analysis: As several blockbuster drugs face patent expirations, leading drugmakers increasingly rely on licensing deals to replenish their pipelines, with projections indicating a potential $200B revenue loss for the global pharmaceutical industry from 2026 to 2030, making China a crucial licensing market.
- Expansion of Deal Size: The average deal size in 2026 stands at $1.3B, reflecting a ~76% increase from 2025 and approximately six times the average size in 2021, driven by AstraZeneca's obesity drug deal worth up to $18.5B with CSPC Pharmaceutical and AbbVie's cancer drug deal worth up to $5.6B with RemeGen.
- Ongoing Attraction: So far in 2026, 38 deals have been reached with a total value approaching $49B, demonstrating the sustained interest of international pharmaceutical companies in the Chinese market, particularly under the pressure of patent expirations.

- Collaborative Drug Development: AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb are partnering with Switzerland-based Evinova to leverage its AI-native platform for drug development, aiming to enhance research efficiency and reduce costs.
- Cost Savings in R&D: Evinova claims its platform can deliver at least 5%-7% savings per study, which will significantly improve the economic viability of drug development and enhance the competitive edge of the partners in the market.
- Intelligent Clinical Design: Evinova's AI digitizer capability converts clinical study designs, protocols, and documents into machine-readable formats, improving data processing efficiency and accelerating the drug development timeline.
- Multi-Partner Collaboration Model: The platform's flexible architecture enables a multi-model partner approach, providing access to advanced AI models and deep enterprise expertise, fostering smarter operational insights and driving innovation in the industry.

Strategic Collaborations: EvinoVA has announced strategic collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies including Astellas, AstraZeneca, and Bristol Myers Squibb.
Focus on Clinical Development: These partnerships aim to advance EvinoVA's AI-native platform to accelerate global clinical development efforts.
- Policy Advocacy: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary stated in Washington that the agency plans to push for more prescription drugs to become over-the-counter (OTC) this year, aiming to improve drug accessibility and reduce healthcare costs, which could allow patients to obtain basic safe medications without a doctor's visit.
- Regulatory Streamlining: Legislation passed by Congress in November simplifies the regulatory process for transitioning prescription drugs to OTC status, including full, conditional, and partial switch pathways, which is expected to accelerate drug availability and enhance patient convenience in medication access.
- Increased Transparency: Makary emphasized that OTC sales would bypass insurers and pharmacy benefit managers, potentially lowering drug prices and increasing transparency, with cash prices for OTC medications possibly being lower than patients' copays for prescription drugs, thereby alleviating financial burdens on patients.
- Industry Pushback: The pharmaceutical industry has raised concerns about this policy, arguing that OTC drugs may not be covered by insurance, leading to higher costs for patients, and that the FDA lacks authority over drug pricing, necessitating thorough consultations with manufacturers before any transitions.
- Regulatory Reform Advocacy: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary asserts that all drugs should be over-the-counter unless deemed unsafe or addictive, aiming to enhance drug accessibility and reduce healthcare costs through streamlined regulatory processes.
- Drug Transition Process: The FDA is updating OTC monographs to transition basic, safe prescription drugs like nausea medications and vaginal estrogen to OTC status, allowing patients to obtain necessary medications without a doctor's visit.
- Industry Pushback: The pharmaceutical industry has expressed skepticism regarding the FDA's plans, arguing that many OTC drugs are not covered by insurance, potentially leading to higher costs for patients and decreased access to treatments.
- Transparency and Cost Control: Makary emphasizes that OTC sales will enhance price transparency, bypassing insurers and pharmacy benefit managers, thereby making drug prices more competitive and promoting patient adherence to medication regimens.









