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 The lowest dose of the therapy, bb21217, had a median duration of
response of 11.1 months and an overall response rate of 83% in
heavily pre-treated patients with at least three prior lines of
therapy, according to data presented at the American Society of
Hematology Conference.
Bb21217 belongs to a class of drugs called CAR-T therapies that
involve drawing white blood cells from a patient, processing them to
target cancer cells, and infusing them back into the patient.
Typically with CAR-T cell therapy, after around six months of
receiving the treatment, the presence of CAR-T cells available to
fight the tumor cells diminishes to levels that are no longer
measurable, bluebird Chief Medical Officer Dave Davidson told
Reuters.
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With bb21217, the companies are looking to prolong the persistence
of CAR-T cells in the body, which could translate into more durable
clinical responses following treatment, he added.
Bluebird and Bristol-Myers on Friday reported positive results from
a mid-stage trial for another CAR-T therapy, Ide-cel, for multiple
myeloma. [nL4N28G3QL]
The safety profile of bb21217, which targets a protein linked to
multiple myeloma known as BCMA, was consistent with the known
toxicities of CAR-T therapies, regardless of dosage, the companies
said.
(Reporting by Saumya Sibi Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini
Ganguli)
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