Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ:CGEN) shares climbed almost 5% in premarket trading on Monday after the company reported fourth-quarter results that far exceeded analyst expectations, supported by a strategic royalty monetization deal with AstraZeneca.
The clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy developer posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.60 for the quarter, sharply outperforming the analyst consensus forecast of a $0.08 loss per share.
Quarterly revenue surged to $67.33 million, compared with just $1.5 million in the same period a year earlier. The sharp increase was largely driven by a $65 million upfront payment received from AstraZeneca tied to the monetization of a portion of royalties related to rilvegostomig.
For full-year 2025, Compugen generated revenue of $72.8 million, up from $27.9 million reported in 2024.
“This strategic transaction strengthens our cash position while preserving the potential for significant long-term value of a multi-billion-dollar asset being advanced by AstraZeneca across 10 Phase 3 clinical trials in lung, gastrointestinal and endometrial cancers with further clinical data anticipated from Phase 1/2 clinical trials in 2026,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Eran Ophir.
Under the AstraZeneca agreement, Compugen received $65 million upfront and secured an additional $25 million increase to the next potential milestone payment upon acceptance of a biologics license application (BLA). The company retains the majority of future royalty rights and remains eligible for tiered royalties reaching mid-single-digit percentages on future sales, along with potential regulatory and commercial milestone payments totaling up to $195 million.
As of December 31, 2025, Compugen held approximately $145.6 million in cash, cash equivalents, short-term deposits and marketable securities, which management expects will fund operations through 2029.
Research and development expenses declined to $22.8 million in 2025 from $24.8 million the previous year, mainly reflecting lower clinical costs following the completion of earlier trials, partly offset by increased spending related to the MAIA-ovarian study launched in 2025. The company continues to target an interim analysis of the MAIA-ovarian trial in the first quarter of 2027.