CatalYm has racked up $150 million in an oversubscribed Series D to advance its antibody drug that neutralizes GDF15 — a target previously explored by other drugmakers for weight loss — through Phase 2b trials in solid tumors.
The proceeds should give the company enough runway through late 2027, CEO Phil L’Huillier told Endpoints News in an interview. The Munich-based biotech has mostly tested visugromab in open-label studies in later stages of cancer, but will now focus on randomized trials in earlier settings, including patients who haven’t been treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
GDF15 is an immunosuppressant that also plays a key role in the metabolic system and was previously investigated for the treatment of obesity by large pharma companies. Amgen, Merck and Eli Lilly all designed analogs of the protein to promote weight loss, without success.
CatalYm’s Phase 2b tests are set to start early next year, L’Huillier said. The initial focus will be on a pair of trials in patients with non-small cell lung cancer — one combining visugromab with chemotherapy and Merck’s Keytruda in the frontline setting, and another testing its candidate plus the chemotherapy docetaxel in the second-line setting, he added.
Cancer hijacks GDF15 to protect itself from the immune system, according to CatalYm. “With our antibody, we neutralize the elevated GDF15, enabling immune attack to commence again on the tumor,” L’Huillier said.
“The other differentiator is that it’s very safe” compared with chemotherapy or antibody-drug conjugates, L’Huillier said. Visugromab can also help dampen chemotherapy-associated nausea and even boost some patients’ body weight, he added.
The Series D was led by new investors Canaan Partners and Bioqube Ventures, with support from Forbion’s Growth Opportunities Fund, Omega Funds and Gilde Healthcare, among others. In 2022, the German biotech raised €50 million (roughly $49 million USD) in a Series C round. Two years before that, it clinched the same amount in a Series B fundraise.