As with other types of cancers, researchers have sought ways to turn the immune system against multiple myeloma. Their efforts have borne fruit with engineered T cell therapies like Bristol Myers Squibb and 2Seventy Bio’s Abecma and J&J and Legend Biotech’s Carvykti.
Those so-called CAR-T drugs are made from patients’ own T cells and require a complex manufacturing process, although for some patients treatment can deliver lasting benefits with a single infusion.
Elrexfio, Tecvayli and Talvey are off-the-shelf drugs called “bispecific” antibodies, binding to proteins on both diseased cells and T cells to trigger an immune response. They are given for as long as patients can tolerate and their disease remains in check.
