J&J's CAR-T candidate boasts 100% response rate in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma

Johnson & Johnson were present at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting over the weekend to unveil new data on its B cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy JNJ-4528 in the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (MM).

The study focused on MM patients who had received at least three prior lines of therapy or were double refractory to a proteasome inhibitor (PI) and an immunomodulatory drug (IMiD); had received a PI, IMiD and an anti-CD38 antibody.

The Phase 1b results in 29 participants showed that the drug recorded a 100% response rate at a median follow-up period of six months; 69% of these participants saw a complete response or better, while 86% achieved a very good partial response and 14% achieved a partial response. After that same period, 27 participants of the total 29 were progression-free.

However, adverse events were common: 93% of the participants experienced cytokine release syndrome, while 93% experienced neutropenia and 86% experienced anaemia and thrombocytopenia.

“These initial results from the Phase 1b portion of the CARTITUDE-1 study highlight a compelling clinical profile for JNJ-4528 in heavily pre-treated patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma,” commented Dr Deepu Madduri, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai, and principal study investigator on the trial. “With the CARTITUDE-1 expansion cohort fully enrolled and all patients dosed, we look forward to collecting additional efficacy and safety data to further define the profile of this BCMA-targeted CAR-T therapy.”

Matt Fellows