With Two BCMA-Targeting Myeloma Treatments, Which Should Be First Choice?

Experts Weigh In On Positioning BMS/Bluebird’s Abecma And GSK’s Blenrep

 
• By Alaric DeArment
  
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Market Snapshot: GSK's Blenrep and BMS's Abecma are the first of many drugs for the late-line setting. In many cases, the CAR-T may be the first choice, but some patients are unable to handle it or risk progressing while awaiting treatment.

Open Book Of prostate multiple myeloma, Conceptual Image - Image
With two BCMA-targeting myeloma therapies available, the question now is how to position them in treatment • Source: Shutterstock

With two BCMA-targeting therapies now approved for multiple myeloma – GlaxoSmithKline plc’s antibody-drug conjugate Blenrep (belantamab mafodotin-blml) and bluebird bio/Bristol Myers Squibb Company’s CAR-T therapy Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel) – the question becomes how their differences in efficacy, toxicity and logistics determine which will be the first option for patients. That will be especially pertinent as more anti-BCMA therapies become available in the coming years.

In the first quarter of 2021, Blenrep had sales of £21m ($29m), the London-based drug maker announced 28 April. In...

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