CatalYm announced significant leadership changes on September 15, 2025, appointing four seasoned pharmaceutical executives to accelerate the development of visugromab, its first-in-class anti-GDF-15 antibody, through late-stage clinical trials. The Munich and San Francisco-based company named Clinton Musil as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer, Sujata Rao, MD, as Chief Medical Officer, Heike Krupka, PhD, as Chief Development Officer, and Andrea Goddard as Chief Technology Officer.
Clinical Success Drives Strategic Expansion
The leadership expansion follows compelling clinical data from CatalYm's exploratory Phase 2a GDFATHER-2 trial (NCT04725474), where visugromab combined with an anti-PD-1 inhibitor demonstrated deep and durable responses across multiple solid tumor types while maintaining a favorable safety profile. These results were presented at leading medical conferences and published in Nature in December 2024.
"With compelling data for visugromab in hand, we are convinced it is critical to accelerate and broaden our clinical development programs," said Scott Clarke, Chief Executive Officer at CatalYm. "Bringing on board this gifted team of senior clinical drug development executives is an important component of our successfully advancing visugromab through late-stage development."
Experienced Leadership Team
Clinton Musil brings decades of biopharmaceutical industry experience, joining from Skyhawk Therapeutics where he held roles of increasing responsibility. His background includes completing multiple IPOs as an executive and senior positions at public biotech companies, including ARMO Biosciences, which Eli Lilly acquired for $1.6 billion.
Sujata Rao, MD, contributes over 20 years of early- and late-stage global clinical development expertise in oncology and immunology. Her experience spans senior executive roles at Onyx, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly/ARMO, and most recently as CMO at Insilico Medicine, with extensive FDA and global regulatory engagement experience.
Heike Krupka, PhD, adds more than 23 years of drug development experience across hematology, oncology, cell therapy and immunology throughout the complete product lifecycle. She previously held senior leadership positions at Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Genentech/Roche and other biotechnology companies.
Andrea Goddard brings three decades of global biotechnology experience from manufacturing to executive leadership. She previously held operational and executive roles in manufacturing, technology and quality at Roche and Genentech, leading global teams for pharmaceutical commercial products and clinical pipeline delivery.
Advancing Multiple Clinical Programs
CatalYm is currently advancing visugromab into multiple Phase 2b studies, including first-line metastatic NSCLC (NCT07098988) and cachexia (NCT07112196). The company expects further data updates from Phase 2 studies and a cachexia analysis this year.
In addition to demonstrating anti-tumor efficacy, data from the Phase 1/2a study showed that visugromab can significantly counteract the effects of cachexia in patients with relapsed and refractory metastatic solid tumors. This dual therapeutic potential positions visugromab as a potentially transformative treatment addressing both cancer progression and associated wasting syndrome.
Industry Recognition and Investment Support
Jon Edwards, Chair of CatalYm's Board of Directors, expressed confidence in the strategic direction: "CatalYm is at an exciting juncture in its evolution and we believe the new leadership team Scott has assembled will guide this next critical step."
The board also acknowledged the contributions of CatalYm's previous management team, including Anne Burger, Eugen Leo and Christine Schuberth-Wagner, whose leadership contributed to the momentum GDF-15-targeting therapies are gaining in the industry.
Founded in 2016, CatalYm is backed by leading international investors including Canaan Partners, Bioqube Ventures, Forbion, Omega Funds, Gilde Healthcare, Jeito Capital, Novartis Venture Fund, Vesalius, Brandon Capital, Bayern Kapital, BioGeneration Ventures, and Coparion.
