On October 6, 2026 CatalYm reported that updated clinical results from its Phase 2 GDFATHER-NEO trial will be presented in a rapid oral presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress 2026, taking place October 23-27, 2026, in Madrid, Spain.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
The oral presentation will feature updated findings from the Phase 2 GDFATHER-NEO trial (NCT06059547) and will include final pathological and radiological outcomes as well as event-free survival from the stratified, blinded trial evaluating visugromab versus placebo in combination with nivolumab as neoadjuvant treatment for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). These updated findings will provide further insights into the potential of GDF-15 inhibition in combination with immune checkpoint blockade.
In addition, two Trial in Progress presentations will provide an overview of the ongoing GDFATHER-NSCLC-02 (NCT07246863) and GDFATHER-HCC-01 (NCT07219459) Phase 2b trials, which are evaluating visugromab in second-line metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), respectively. Together, these studies reflect CatalYm’s continued advancement of visugromab across multiple solid tumor indications.
Presentation Details
Rapid Oral Presentation – GDFATHER-NEO
Abstract #9061
Title: Final pathological and radiological outcomes and initial EFS from a blinded, exploratory Phase 2 trial of nivolumab ± visugromab in MIBC (GDFATHER-NEO)
Session: Rapid oral 1: Genitourinary tumours, renal and urothelial
Presentation Date and Time: October 24, 2026; 10:15 – 11:45 am CEST
Presenter: Andrea Necchi
Location: Bilbao Auditorium – Hall 3
Trials in Progress Poster Presentation – GDFATHER-NSCLC-02
Abstract #4316
Title: Phase 2b randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled trial investigating the efficacy and safety of visugromab plus nivolumab with or without docetaxel in second line metastatic non-squamous NSCLC: GDFATHER-NSCLC-02
Presentation Date and Time: October 26, 2026; 12:00 – 12:45 pm CET
Presenter: Martin Reck
Presentation Number: 2725TiP
Trials in Progress e-Poster Presentation – GDFATHER-HCC-01
Abstract #7627
Title: Phase 2b randomized, blinded trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of visugromab in combination with nivolumab and lenvatinib in unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma after failure of first-line treatment including an anti-PD-(L)1 compound: GDFATHER-HCC-01
Presenter: Richard S. Finn
Presentation Number: 1761eTiP
About Visugromab
Visugromab is a monoclonal antibody that neutralizes Growth Differentiation Factor-15 (GDF-15), a locally acting immunosuppressant produced by tumors which fosters immunotherapy resistance and drives cachexia in people with cancer. Neutralizing GDF-15 with visugromab reverses key cancer resistance mechanisms to reinstate an efficient anti-tumor response by re-enabling immune cell activation, proliferation, and induction of interferon-γ. In addition, visugromab also mitigates cancer cachexia, a severe condition affecting a significant number of advanced cancer patients by inhibiting the activation of the GFRAL pathway in the brainstem, a key driver of weight loss and appetite suppression in cancer patients.
(Press release, Catalym, OCT 6, 2026, View Source [SID1234673213])