Inês Martins, PhD, managing science editor —

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Darzalex (daratumumab), in combination with Revlimid (lenalidomide) and dexamethasone, or Velcade (bortezomib) and dexamethasone, for multiple myeloma patients who have received at least one prior therapy. Clinical studies have revealed that adding Darzalex to Revlimid and dexamethasome in myeloma patients with…

Multiple myeloma patients taking the immunomodulatory drug thalidomide may develop a potentially life-threatening dermatologic disorder called toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), according to a recent case report published in the International Journal of Dermatology. The study, “Toxic epidermal necrolysis induced by thalidomide and dexamethasone treatment for…

Adding the proteasome inhibitor Kyprolis (carfilzomib) to the standard two-drug regimen of Revlimid (lenalidomide) and dexamethasone significantly improves health-related quality of life in relapsed multiple myeloma patients, according to a secondary analysis of the ASPIRE clinical trial. These findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, further support the…

The anti-CD38 agent Darzalex (daratumumab) will be investigated in a Phase 3 clinical trial in combination with Kyprolis (carfilzomib) and Decadron (dexamethasone) in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma patients. The study will be conducted under a collaboration and supply agreement between Genmab, Janssen Biotech, and Onyx Pharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has verbally notified BioInvent International that it’s placing a full clinical hold on the company’s Phase 2 trial evaluating BI-505 in multiple myeloma patients. This means Sweden-based BioInvent cannot dose trial patients while the hold is in place. While the company has not…

Karyopharm Therapeutics is set to present novel clinical data on its lead product candidate selinexor, an oral selective inhibitor of nuclear export compound that is being developed for a variety of advanced hematologic and solid tumors. The data, to be presented at the upcoming American Society of Hematology (ASH)…

MorphoSys, the creator of HuCAL (Human Combinatorial Antibody Library), will give two oral and one poster presentation on the company’s proprietary antibody hemato-oncological programs, MOR208 and MOR202, at the upcoming 58th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting (ASH 2016) Dec. 3-6 in San Diego, Calif.. “We are pleased that updated…

Adaptimmune Therapeutics and Merck have agreed to begin a clinical trial next year assess the safety and efficacy of combining the anti-PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) with Adaptimmune’s NY-ESO Spear T-cell therapy in multiple myeloma patients. The agreement states that the trial will be sponsored by Adaptimmune, and includes a provision…

Patients treated for multiple myeloma at facilities that see a higher number of multiple myeloma patients annually had better outcomes compared to patients who were treated at lower-volume facilities, researchers at the Mayo Clinic found. The research study, “Association Between Treatment Facility Volume and Mortality of Patients With Multiple Myeloma,” was…

Longer duration of maintenance therapy with Revlimid (lenalidomide) after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) prolongs survival for multiple myeloma patients without increasing their risk of developing other primary cancers, researchers found. The findings come from the retrospective study “Prolonged survival with a longer duration…