UK’s NICE recommends talquetamab for use across England and Wales
Talquetamab recommended by NICE for relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma
Discover Pharma) “The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued Final Draft Guidance recommending talquetamab for use in the NHS across England and Wales.”
Talquetamab, a CD3- and GPRC5D-targeted bispecific antibody, was approved by the US FDA and EMA for treating adults with relapsed/refractory myeloma following ≥4 prior lines of therapy, including a proteasome inhibitor, an immunomodulatory agent, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, based on the phase 1/2 MonumenTAL-1 trial.
A new BCMA-targeted antibody-drug conjugate earns FDA Fast Track for myeloma
Pamlectabart tismanitin (HDP-101), a BCMA-targeted antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), demonstrated promising efficacy in the ongoing phase 1/2a study (NCT04879043), according to data presented during the Oral Abstract Session at the 2025 IMS Annual Meeting. This novel amanitin-based ADC has earned US FDA Fast Track designation.
An AI segmentation model for whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT for myeloma
A deep learning-based automated lesion segmentation model, originally developed from PET/CT images from 1,014 scans of a pan-cancer cohort, may improve sensitivity of detecting myeloma lesions, referenced to MRI readouts. The data pertaining to the myeloma patients will be presented at the 2025 Radiologic Society of North America Annual Meeting, in the session on Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (Innovations in Nuclear Medicine).
ASH 2025 Late-Breaking Abstracts Session features MajesTec-3 trial of teclistamab-daratumumab combination
Dr. Maria-Victoria Mateos, recipient of the 2025 IMS Waldenström Lifetime Achievement Award, will present MajesTec-3 trial findings during the Late-Breaking Abstracts Session at the 2025 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting. The phase 3 MajesTec-3 study is comparing teclistamab plus daratumumab to investigator’s choice of daratumumab and dexamethasone with either pomalidomide or bortezomib, in patients with relapsed/refractory myeloma.
Exome sequencing reveals inherited genetic alterations in familiar and early-onset myeloma
Inherited factors may predispose individuals to the development of myeloma and prevalence of myeloma precursor conditions/MM is higher in first-degree family members of patients with myeloma. A large exome sequencing study of 347 familial and early-onset (diagnosed in individuals aged <55 years) cases of myeloma identified new and previously reported likely pathogenic variants associated with MM. The report was published in Leukemia.
3D model of the endosteal niche may facilitate drug discovery in hematologic cancers
A report in Cell Stem Cell outlined the development of a new 3D model of the human bone marrow endosteal niche, one of the subniches within the bone marrow microenvironment. 3D models may help better approximate the complexity and behavior of the interactions between myeloma cells and bone marrow niches.
Targeting exosome biogenesis may modulate bortezomib resistance in myeloma
Tumor-derived exosomes, extracellular vesicles released by cancer cells that can carry a variety of cargo molecules, may play a role in modulating response of myeloma cells to bortezomib. A report published in Medical Oncology suggests that ketotifen, a histamine H1 receptor blocker and mast cell stabilizer, may suppress biogenesis of myeloma cell-derived exosomes, “potentially enhancing bortezomib efficacy.”
