Forbion portfolio company CatalYm has had final results from its exploratory Phase 2a GDFATHER-NEO trial published in Nature Medicine: "Neoadjuvant nivolumab with or without visugromab in muscle-invasive bladder cancer: the phase 2a GDFATHER-NEO trial."
The study evaluated visugromab, CatalYm’s GDF-15-neutralizing antibody, in combination with nivolumab as neoadjuvant treatment for people with newly diagnosed muscle-invasive bladder cancer who were ineligible for or declined cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
Among evaluable patients, nivolumab plus visugromab was associated with higher response rates than nivolumab plus placebo: pathologic complete response was 33% versus 8%, major pathologic response was 60% versus 23%, and radiographic overall response was 60% versus 15%. Independent central review broadly supported the locally assessed results. In the visugromab arm, four of the five patients who achieved a pathologic complete response retained their bladder after re-transurethral resection alone.
These exploratory findings support further evaluation of visugromab in muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
Click here to read the full article in Nature Medicine, or download the PDF.