{"entity":{"id":"visugromab","kind":"drug","name":"Visugromab","aka":[],"tldr":"Visugromab is CatalYm's antibody against GDF-15, a tumour-made signal that both blocks immune cells and causes cancer wasting; it is in a phase 3 trial with PD-1 blockade after durable responses in patients whose cancers had stopped responding to checkpoint inhibitors.","summary":"CatalYm, a Munich biotech, developed visugromab (CTL-002) after showing that GDF-15 secreted by tumours prevents T cells from entering them. In the GDFATHER trials it produced durable responses with nivolumab in patients with checkpoint-refractory cancers, and the same molecule is being studied for cancer-associated cachexia, since GDF-15 acts on the brainstem to suppress appetite. A phase 3 trial is registered.","status":"phase-3","asOf":"2026-09-16","links":[{"label":"ClinicalTrials.gov: trials of Visugromab","url":"https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?intr=CTL-002"}],"tags":["pipeline","ctgov-ingest"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":["checkpoint-inhibitor"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["nct07112196"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"notes":[],"provenance":{"editedBy":"OnCo ingestion (ClinicalTrials.gov v2, curated)","editedOn":"2026-09-16"},"code":"CTL-002","modality":"Anti-GDF-15 monoclonal antibody, intravenous","mechanism":"Neutralises growth differentiation factor 15, a cytokine many tumours secrete that keeps T cells out of the tumour and drives cachexia; blocking it is meant to restore immune infiltration and reverse weight loss.","approvals":[],"mechanismSteps":[],"toxicity":[],"access":[],"regulatoryEvents":[]},"route":"/drugs/visugromab/","neighbours":{"technology":[{"id":"checkpoint-inhibitor","kind":"technology","name":"Immune checkpoint inhibitors","route":"/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct04725474","kind":"trial","name":"First-in-Human Study of the GDF-15 Neutralizing Antibody Visugromab (CTL-002) in Patients With Advanced Cancer (GDFATHER)","route":"/trials/nct04725474/"},{"id":"nct07246863","kind":"trial","name":"Trial Investigating Visugromab and Nivolumab With or Without Docetaxel in 2L Treatment of Participants With Metastatic NSCLC","route":"/trials/nct07246863/"},{"id":"nct07098988","kind":"trial","name":"Trial Investigating Visugromab in Combination With Immunochemotherapy in 1L Treatment of Participants With Metastatic NSCLC","route":"/trials/nct07098988/"},{"id":"nct07112196","kind":"trial","name":"Visugromab in Cachexia International Trial","route":"/trials/nct07112196/"},{"id":"nct07219459","kind":"trial","name":"Visugromab, Nivolumab and Lenvatinib Compared to Double Placebo and Lenvatinib in Unresectable or Metastatic Hepatocellular Carcinoma Post Anti-PD-(L)","route":"/trials/nct07219459/"}]}}