Dr. Voorhees on the Effectiveness of Idecabtagene Vicleucel in Multiple Myeloma

Peter Voorhees, MD, physician, Levine Cancer Institute, Atrium Health, discusses the evolution of idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel; bb2121) in the phase 2 KarMMa study in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

The initial focus of CAR T-cell therapy in the myeloma space has been in the relapse/refractory disease setting, says Voorhees. Data on idecabtag; this is unheard of, Voorhees adds. A big proportion of these responses proved to be complete responses (CRs) and are minimal residual disease—negative CRs, which is very exciting, says Voorhees.

At the time of the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting, a press release on the phase 2 KarMMa study with ide-cel was issued. Unsurprisingly, from the phase 1 to the phase 2 study, a slight degradation in the signal of progression-free survival (PFS) was observed. In the study, the BCMA-directed CAR T-cell product produced an overall response rate of 73.4%, a 10.6-month median duration of response, and an 8.6-month median PFS in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. The median PFS was not as good as what was seen in the phase 1 study, but was still respectable for a heavily pretreated population, concludes Voorhees.