Bispecific antibodies a threat to Bristol Myers cell therapy in multiple myeloma

The market position of Bristol Myers-Squibb’s (NYSE: BMY) Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel; ide-cel) for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), is facing a serious threat from a relatively novel class of drugs known as bispecific T-cell engagers (BiTEs), as they leverage clinical advantages such as improved duration of response to therapy and quicker administration, says data and analytics company, GlobalData.

Abecma is the first and only cell-based gene therapy to have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency. It is also the first and only approved anti-BCMA CAR-T cell therapy.

Research by  GlobalData’s pharma team explains that patients with RRMM have poor clinical outcomes due to therapeutic options that do not control the disease effectively in the long term. Abecma is currently marketed for RRMM patients in the fifth line, but recent data has highlighted that there is still much left to be desired for treating these patients.