ASCO 2020: BCMA CAR-T Race Heats Up Between Bristol And Janssen

 
• By Mandy Jackson
  
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The gap between potential approvals for Bristol’s ide-cel and Janssen’s JNJ-4528 has narrowed as both CAR-T therapies show high response rates in multiple myeloma – and as bispecific antibodies, including Janssen’s teclistamab, edge into the space.

T cell lymphocyte with receptors to kill cancer cell in cancer immunotherapy 3D render
CAR-T cells targeting BCMA induce high responses in heavily pre-treated myeloma • Source: Shutterstock

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and bluebird bio inc. may have lost some momentum in their race to bring the first B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-targeting chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy to the US market with a regulatory setback, but results from the pivotal Phase II KarMMa clinical trial that will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) virtual meeting at the end of May show a high response rate in heavily pre-treated relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients.

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