- CatalYm, a leader in the development of a new class of cancer treatments, was founded in 2016 by Forbion and its joint venture partner BioGeneration Ventures (BGV)
- Proceeds will fund expanded late-stage clinical development of CatalYm’s lead asset, visugromab, into earlier lines of treatment in select solid tumour indications
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 16 July 2024 – Forbion, a leading global life sciences venture capital firm with deep expertise in Europe, today announced the completion of a $150 million Series D financing in CatalYm. The oversubscribed round was co-led by Forbion via its Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund II (“Forbion Growth”) and new investors, Canaan Partners and Bioqube Ventures, along with Omega Funds and Gilde Healthcare Partners. CatalYm was founded in 2016 as a spin-out from Wuerzburg University, with support from Forbion's Ventures Fund and BGV.
The proceeds will fund the expansion of the company’s broad Phase 2b development of visugromab into randomized Phase 2b studies in select checkpoint naïve frontline and second-line treatment settings. Visugromab has already demonstrated outstanding anti-tumor activity in combination with checkpoint inhibitor treatment.
Visugromab is a humanized monoclonal antibody engineered to neutralize the tumor-produced Growth Differentiation Factor-15 (GDF-15), which acts as a key regulator of immune resistance to cancer therapies. CatalYm recently reported impressive follow-up results from its ongoing “GDFATHER” Phase 1/2a trial (GDF-15 Antibody-mediaTed Human Effector Cell Relocation Phase 1/2a) (NCT04725474) in an oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting 2024 in Chicago. The data showed that treatment with visugromab combined with the anti-PD-1 antibody, nivolumab achieves compelling, deep and durable anti-tumor activity, including several complete responses in anti-PD-1/PD-L1 relapsed/refractory patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), urothelial cancer (UC) or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
We are proud to continue to support CatalYm on the next stage of its journey, as it builds on the strong clinical data presented at this year’s ASCO meeting. The expansion of the Phase 2b programme is an exciting step, and visugromab’s differentiated therapeutic profile means it has the potential to deliver real impact for patients with a range of hard-to-treat solid tumours.
Rogier Rooswinkel
Forbion General Partner and CatalYm board director
We are delighted to join this Series D financing round, and support CatalYm with growth financing through late-stage clinical development. We have been impressed with the progress the company made since Forbion supported its founding, and are excited to continue our support with the Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund. This latest funding round underscores our robust growth strategy and our dedication to advancing innovative healthcare solutions across Europe and worldwide.
Jasper Bos
General Partner Forbion Growth
This substantial raise and strong syndicate recognize our achievements as a company and emphasize the excellent results of visugromab and our broad Phase 2b clinical program. We continue to demonstrate visugromab’s potential to induce cancer remission depth and durability across multiple solid tumor indications emphasizing the substantial role visugromab could play in a novel anti-cancer therapy regiment. We are building significant momentum for CatalYm’s development strategy and look forward to the support of these high-profile new and existing international investors, who share our vision of breaking immunosuppressive barriers to improve therapeutic outcomes.
Phil L’Huillier
Managing Director and Chief Executing Officer at CatalYm
In conjunction with the close of the financing, Colleen Cuffaro, Partner at Canaan, Jon Edwards, Managing Director at Bioqube Ventures and Otello Stampacchia, Managing Director and Founder at Omega Funds, will join the CatalYm Board of Directors, alongside Forbion’s Rogier Rooswinkel, who remains on the Board. CatalYm is now in preparations to launch further randomized, controlled studies in several major cancer indications in combination with checkpoint inhibitors and standard-of-care in first- and second-line treatment in the first half of 2025.
Forbion Investor Relations
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