Phillip Moreau, MD, PhD, Head of the Hematology Department at the University Hospital Phillip Moreau, MD, PhD, Head of the Hematology Department at the University Hospital Hôtel-Dieu, discusses the updated results from MajesTEC-1, a phase 1/2 study of teclistamab in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. These results were recently presented at The American Society of Hematology Meeting & Exposition (ASH 2021).

Multiple myeloma is a rare blood cancer. While the disease is treatable, relapses are common and some patients are refractory to first line treatment.

As Dr. Moreau explains, MajesTEC-1 is a phase 1/2 study testing teclistamab in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Teclistamab is a T-cell redirecting, bispecific IgG4 antibody that targets both B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and CD3 receptors to induce T-cell mediated cytotoxicity of BCMA-expressing myeloma cells. In this study, two cohorts were evaluated, one cohort given teclistamab weekly and one biweekly. Updated data on both of these cohorts was presented at the ASH 2021 meeting.

Response rates from both cohorts were encouraging with up to 75% of patients responding to treatment with teclistamab. As of the clinical cutoff, no new safety signals were identified in the phase 2 study. The most common nonhematologic AEs in all 159 patients treated at the recommended phase 2 dose were cytokine release syndrome, injection site erythema, and fatigue. The most common hematologic AEs were neutropenia, anemia, and thrombocytopenia.

According to Dr. Moreau, the take home message from this data is that teclistamab is a novel, tolerable, off-the-shelf agent that is immediately available. As a result, the use of teclistamab for advanced patients with BCMA may be approved fairly soon.

Longer follow-up of multiple myeloma patients receiving teclistamab is necessary.