For the second year running, Pfizer has arrived at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) conference armed with data showing its one-time heart failure hopeful ponsegromab can treat a wasting syndrome.
The syndrome, known medically as cachexia, is estimated to affect up to 80% of people with advanced cancer. As well as negatively affecting quality of life, the condition is thought to directly cause up to 30% of cancer deaths because muscle loss leads to heart or respiratory failure. In people with cachexia, GDF-15 is elevated and high levels of the cytokine are associated with poor outcomes.
A year ago, Pfizer tied a subcutaneous injection of the highest dose of the anti-GDF-15 antibody ponsegromab once every four weeks to a body weight gain of 3 kg at 12 weeks when compared to placebo. At the ESMO Congress 2025, the pharma has brought one-year data showing that these benefits were maintained over 12 months.
Specifically, of the 117 patients with either non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer or pancreatic cancer who moved into the 12-month, open-label extension part of the trial, the average weight gain was 2.7 kg at Week 24, 4.4 kg at Week 52 and 5.2 kg at Week 64.
Patients who received a placebo in the original 24-week portion of the study showed a stabilization of their weight once moved across to the open-label extension. However, Pfizer noted in its ESMO abstract that the weight gain for these individuals was less than for those who received ponsegromab from the start.
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The drug continued to be safe and well-tolerated during the study’s extension, with no new safety signals, Pfizer noted.
Aside from cachexia, Pfizer had also been investigating ponsegromab as a treatment for heart failure, but the company announced in February that it had discontinued this phase 2 work.
