Bluebird's BCMA CAR-T Sings At ASCO, But How Will It Fly In Early Multiple Myeloma?

Bluebird and Celgene are focused on moving bb2121 into earlier lines of multiple myeloma therapy. Positive early data was was the opening headliner at ASCO, showing PFS improvements of about a year in heavily pre-treated patients – meeting expectations, though not overwhelming.

Digital illustration of Cancer cell in colour background

The headliner on the opening day of the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting June 1 was bluebird bio Inc.'s updated data on the second-generation chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy bb2121, targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

The updated data, including the first progression-free survival data in patients with multiple myeloma, eased investors as bb2121 showed notable...