Myeloma Market Snapshot: New Drug Classes On The Way, But Cost Could Be A Problem

When it comes to immunotherapy, multiple myeloma has been a relative latecomer. The first immunotherapy for the second most common blood cancer, Bristol Myers Squibb Company and 2seventy Bio, Inc.’s BCMA-directed CAR-T therapy Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel), received US Food and Drug Administration approval in 2021, seven years after the introduction of PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors. But now the immunotherapy field for multiple myeloma is exploding, with a plethora of agents targeting BCMA along with more novel targets like GPRC5D and FcRH5. Outside of immunotherapy, BMS’s cereblon E3 ligase modulator (CELMoD) class is in Phase III development.

The range of new therapies coming down the pike means more options than ever for multiple myeloma patients. But the new therapies inevitably raise the question of cost, as most...