Start-up hopes to bring its first candidate, an NY-ESO-1-targeting off-the-shelf product, into the clinic in Q2. Astex and Cardiff University team up on novel therapies for neurodegenerative disease.

The small-cap biotech is not currently favored by investors but CEO Anat Cohen-Dayag tells Scrip she believes Compugen could have the optimal TIGIT strategy.

Analysts are keen to know more about the statistical weighting of Roche’s SKYSCRAPER 1 study of the TIGIT inhibitor, while Merck & Co can learn from their rival’s slip-up for their own trial design.

After two failures in a row from Roche, the TIGIT hypothesis is looking shaky, but it is too early to write off the class yet.