Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Active, Not Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT06059547

Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy Combined With the Anti-GDF-15 Antibody Visugromab to Treat Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

This is a multi-center, stratified and single-blinded Phase 2 trial of neoadjuvant immunotherapy in combination with the anti-GDF15 antibody visugromab (CTL-002) for the treatment of participants with MIBC set to undergo radical Cystectomy (RC)/Re-TURBT who cannot receive or refuse to receive cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

Active, Not Recruiting

This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

Notify Me

Key information

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 2

Primary location

Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

Loading trial locations.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Main Inclusion Criteria:

  • Signed and dated informed consent, and able to comply with the study procedures and any locally required authorization.
  • Male or female aged ≥ 18 years.
  • Histopathologically confirmed urothelial carcinoma.
  • Clinical Stage T2-T4aN0M0 MIBC.
  • Ineligible for cisplatin therapy per modified Galsky criteria or refuses cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
  • Eligible for radical Cystectomy.
  • Pretreatment tumor material from transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT) must be available.
  • Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-1.
  • Adequate organ function (bone marrow, hepatic, renal function and coagulation).

Main Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant or breastfeeding.
  • Received prior radiotherapy on the bladder tumor.
  • Received a partial cystectomy.
  • Any prior systemic anti-cancer therapy including investigational agents and immunotherapy.
  • Following cardio-vascular risk factors:
  • Myocardial infarction in the past 6 months before planned treatment start.
  • Uncontrolled heart failure.
  • Uncontrolled ventricular arrhythmia.
  • A peri/myocarditis in the past 3 months before planned treatment start. Note: Stable atrial fibrillation is permissive with or without anticoagulation if there was no decompensation in the past 3 months before planned treatment start.
  • Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 50% measured by echocardiogram or MUGA.
  • QTcF ≥ 470 ms regardless of sex.
  • Any active autoimmune requiring systemic immunosuppressive treatments.
  • Any history of non-infectious pneumonitis < 6 months prior to Screening.
  • Any active inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis which are generally excluded or active autoimmunthyroiditis present < 6 months prior to Screening.
  • History of CNS disease such as stroke, seizure, encephalitis, or multiple sclerosis (< 6 months prior to Screening).

Treatment and study plan

Nivolumab

Drug

Biological, monoclonal antibody

Visugromab (CTL-002)

Drug

Biological, monoclonal antibody

Placebo

Drug

Placebo (NaCl) for Visugromab (CTL-002)

Primary outcomes

  1. Pathological complete response rate

    Time frame: min. 4 months

    Rate of participants with complete pathological responses after IMP treatment as determined by local pathologist review

  2. Radiological response rate according RECIST

    Time frame: min. 4 months

    Rate of participants with radiological responses according to RECIST 1.1 prior Radical Cystectomy/Re-TURBT as assessed by the Investigator/Radiologist

Secondary outcomes

  1. Adverse Events

    Time frame: min. 6 months

    Incidence of adverse events (related or unrelated to IMPs)

  2. Treatment related delay of surgery

    Time frame: min. 6 months

    Treatment related delay of Radical Cystectomy/Re-TURBT > 8 weeks after last dose of IMP

  3. Cmax following the first dose of Visugromab (CTL-002)

    Time frame: 1 day

    PK parameter from serum Visugromab (CTL-002) levels

  4. AUC following the first dose of Visugromab (CTL-002)

    Time frame: 28 days

    PK parameter from serum Visugromab (CTL-002) levels

  5. Half-life of Visugromab (CTL-002)

    Time frame: min. 3 months

    PK parameter from serum Visugromab (CTL-002) levels

  6. GDF-15 serum levels

    Time frame: 1 day

    Measurement of concentration in peripheral blood

  7. Pathological complete response rate

    Time frame: min. 4 months

    Rate of participants with complete pathological responses after IMP treatment as determined by central independent pathological review

  8. Radiological response rate according RECIST

    Time frame: Min. 4 months

    Rate of participants with radiological responses according to RECIST 1.1 prior Radical Cystectomy/Re-TURBT as assessed by the central independent review

  9. Major pathological response rate

    Time frame: Min. 4 months

    Rate of participants with major pathological responses after IMP treatment as determined by local pathologist review or central independent pathological review

  10. Evaluation of EFS (Event-free Survival)

    Time frame: 12 months after Radical Cystectomy/Re-TURBT

    Event-free survival will be defined as the time from first IMP administration to one of the following:

    Radiographic disease progression precluding a curative intent surgery per RECIST v1.1 prior to RC/Re-TURBT.

    Initiation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy preceding RC/Re-TURBT as per Investigator decision.

    Inability to undergo RC/Re-TURBT due to the onset of treatment-related side effects.

    Inability to complete a curative intent surgery determined by the urologist at the time of RC/Re-TURBT (e.g., unresectable tumor, metastases discovered at RC).

    Local or distant recurrence assessed by cross-sectional imaging and/or biopsy after RC/Re-TURBT.

    Death from any cause. In this trial, participant refusal to undergo RC due to the evidence of complete or near-complete clinical response (assessed on cross-sectional imaging as previously described) will not be considered an event.

  11. OS (Overall Survival)

    Time frame: 15 months

    Overall survival is defined as the time from the first IMP administration to the date of death, regardless of the cause of death.

    Participants who were alive at the time of the analysis will be censored at the date the participant was last known to be alive.

  12. Evaluation of TTR (Time to Relapse)

    Time frame: 12 months after Radical Cystectomy/Re-TURBT

    Time to relapse will be measured from the time of RC/Re-TURBT until the day of documented relapse.

  13. Visugromab-induced anti-drug antibodies (ADA) development.

    Time frame: min. 5 months

    The number and percentage of participants with any detectable ADA after first IMP administration

Other outcomes

  1. Tumor biopsy analysis

    Time frame: min. 3 months

  2. Evaluation of selected cytokine and chemokine concentration in peripheral blood

    Time frame: min. 3 months

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

CatalYm GmbH

Industry

Registry information

Official study title

A Multi-center Phase 2 Study of Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy in Combination With the Anti-GDF-15 Antibody Visugromab (CTL-002) for the Treatment of Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

Important dates

Study start
2023
Primary completion
2025
Study completion
2026
First posted
Sep 28, 2023
Registry last updated
Dec 11, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.