Bristol Myers Squibb Receives European Commission Approval for Abecma (Idecabtagene Vicleucel), the First Anti-BCMA CAR T Cell Therapy for Relapsed and Refractory Multiple Myeloma
PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--?Bristol Myers Squibb?(NYSE: BMY) today announced that the European Commission (EC) has granted Conditional Marketing Authorization for?Abecma?(idecabtagene vicleucel; ide-cel), a first-in-class B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy, for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma, who have received at least three prior therapies, including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor and an anti-CD38 antibody and have demonstrated disease progression on the last therapy.
Abecma?is the first and only CAR T cell therapy approved that is directed to recognize and bind to BCMA, a protein that is nearly universally expressed on cancer cells in multiple myeloma, leading to the death of BCMA-expressing cells.1Abecma?is delivered via a single infusion with a target dose of 420 x 106?CAR-positive viable T cells within a range of 260 to 500 x 106?CAR-positive viable T cells.?Abecma?is approved for use in all European Union (EU) member states.*
?The EC approval of?Abecma?is an important milestone for the treatment of multiple myeloma, and moves us closer to offering a first-in-class, personalized therapy to patients in Europe battling this incurable disease after exhausting prior treatment options with the three standards of care,? said?Samit Hirawat, M.D., chief medical officer, Bristol Myers Squibb. ?With this third regulatory approval for?Abecma?worldwide,?we are proud to be advancing the science of cell therapy and continuing to bring this first anti-BCMA CAR T cell therapy to patients in need.?
In Europe, nearly 50,000 people are diagnosed with multiple myeloma each year.2?Despite advances in treatment, multiple myeloma remains an incurable disease, and many patients suffer through periods of remission and relapse. Patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who have been exposed to all three major drug classes often have poor clinical outcomes and few remaining treatment options.3,4,5,6
?In multiple myeloma, when a patient?s cancer is no longer responding to their current treatment regimen or the patient relapses, the disease becomes increasingly difficult to treat,? said Jesus San Miguel, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director of the Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Navarra, Spain and KarMMa clinical trial investigator. ?In the KarMMa trial, treatment with ide-cel proved to elicit deep and durable responses in a significant proportion of patients with triple-class exposed multiple myeloma, including many who were heavily pretreated and had high-risk disease. The approval is important for patients in Europe, as it represents another potential therapeutic option for clinically meaningful outcomes and long-term disease control.?
Bristol Myers Squibb is committed to making?Abecma?commercially available to patients in the EU. The company is currently focused on several required factors, including treatment center qualification and onboarding, completion of reimbursement procedures and scaling up its manufacturing capacity to meet increasing global demand. The company is also actively pursuing options to expand its manufacturing global supply network to make?Abecma?available to more patients around the world, including the addition of a European-based manufacturing facility in Leiden, Netherlands. Meanwhile, Bristol Myers Squibb will continue to manufacture?Abecma?for EU and U.S. patientsat the company?s state-of-the-art cellular immunotherapy manufacturing facility in Summit, New Jersey.
?Multiple myeloma patients who have tried and exhausted multiple rounds of treatment options have been hoping for new and transformative options,? said Brian G.M. Durie, Chairman, International Myeloma Foundation. ?The approval of?Abecma,?an innovative anti-BCMA CAR T cell therapy, is an exciting milestone for patients in the European Union.?
Abecma?was granted Conditional Marketing Authorization under the European Medicines Agency PRIME (Priority Medicines) scheme. Conditional Marketing Authorization is granted in the interest of public health where the benefit of immediate availability fulfills a critical unmet need. Conditional Marketing Authorization in the EU is initially valid for one year but can be extended or converted into a full Marketing Authorization after the submission and assessment of additional confirmatory data. For full details on the Special Warnings and Precautions for Use and Adverse Reactions (including appropriate management), please refer to the EU Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC).
Bristol Myers Squibb offers various programs and resources to address the needs of patients and caregivers and help support access to therapies, including?Abecma.
*Centralized Marketing Authorization does not include approval in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).
Abecma?Clinical Trial Results
The efficacy of?Abecma?is based on results from the pivotal KarMMa study in which 128 patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who had received at least three prior therapies including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor and an anti-CD38 antibody and were refractory to the last treatment regimen were treated with?Abecma.7
In the study, the overall response rate (ORR) was 73% (95% CI: 66-81), and 33% of patients achieved a complete response (CR; 95% CI: 25-41). Onset of response was rapid with a median time to response of one month. In addition, responses were durable, with a median duration of response of 10.6 months (95% CI: 8.0 ? 11.4), and 23 months (95% CI: 11.4 ? 23.3) for those who achieved a CR.7
In a pooled safety analysis of 184 patients treated with?Abecma?in the KarMMa and CRB-401 studies, cytokine release syndrome (CRS) occurred in 81% of patients, with Grade?>3 CRS, using the Lee grading system, occurring in 5.4% of patients. There was one case of fatal (Grade 5) CRS reported. The median time to onset of CRS was one day (range: 1-17 days) and the median duration of CRS was five days (range: 1-63 days). Any grade neurotoxicity (NT) of the 128 patients receiving?Abecma?in the KarMMa study occurred in 18% of patients, including Grade 3 events in 3.1% of patients, with no Grade 4 or 5 events occurring. The median time to onset of NT was two days (range: 1-10 days) and the median duration was three days (range: 1-26 days).7
The most common (>20%) adverse reactions in the pooled safety analysis included neutropenia, CRS, anaemia, thrombocytopenia, infections - pathogen unspecified, leucopenia, fatigue, diarrhoea, hypokalaemia, hypophosphataemia, nausea, lymphopenia, pyrexia, cough, hypocalcaemia, infections - viral, headache, hypomagnesaemia, upper respiratory tract infection, arthralgia, and oedema peripheral. The most common Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions were neutropenia (88.6%), anaemia (58.2%), thrombocytopenia (53.5%), leucopenia (45.1%), lymphopenia (30.4%), infections - pathogen unspecified (17.9%), hypophosphataemia (17.4%), febrile neutropenia (14.7%), hypocalcaemia (7.1%), infections - viral (7.1%), pneumonia (6.0%), CRS (5.4%), hypertension (5.4%) and hyponatraemia (5.4%).7
U.S. Important Safety Information
BOXED WARNING: CYTOKINE RELEASE SYNDROME, NEUROLOGIC TOXICITIES, HLH/MAS, AND PROLONGED CYTOPENIA
- Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS), including fatal or life-threatening reactions, occurred in patients following treatment with ABECMA. Do not administer ABECMA to patients with active infection or inflammatory disorders. Treat severe or life-threatening CRS with tocilizumab or tocilizumab and corticosteroids.
- Neurologic Toxicities, which may be severe or life-threatening, occurred following treatment with ABECMA, including concurrently with CRS, after CRS resolution, or in the absence of CRS. Monitor for neurologic events after treatment with ABECMA. Provide supportive care and/or corticosteroids as needed.
- Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis/Macrophage Activation Syndrome (HLH/MAS) including fatal and life-threatening reactions, occurred in patients following treatment with ABECMA. HLH/MAS can occur with CRS or neurologic toxicities.
- Prolonged Cytopenia with bleeding and infection, including fatal outcomes following stem cell transplantation for hematopoietic recovery, occurred following treatment with ABECMA.
- ABECMA is available only through a restricted program under a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) called the ABECMA REMS.
- Cho, S.F., Anderson, K., Tai, Y.T. (2018). Targeting B Cell Maturation Antigen (BCMA) in Multiple Myeloma: Potential Uses of BCMA-Based Immunotherapy.?Frontiers in Immunology, (9)1821.1-15.
- World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer. Multiple Myeloma. Available at?https://gco.iarc.fr/today/data/factsheets/cancers/35-Multiple-myeloma-fact-sheet.pdf. Accessed July 2021.
- Kumar S K, Lee J H, Lahuerta J J, et al. Risk of progression and survival in multiple myeloma relapsing after therapy with IMiDs and bortezomib: A multicenter international myeloma working group study.?Leukemia. 2012;26(1):149-157.?http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21799510.
- Gandhi Ujjawal, Cornell Robert, Lakshman Arjun, et al. Outcomes of patients with multiple myeloma refractory to CD38-targeted monoclonal antibody therapy.?Leukemia. 2019;33(9).?http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30858549.
- Lonial, Lee, Badros, et al. Belantamab mafodotin for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (DREAMM-2): a two-arm, randomised, open-label, phase 2 study.?Lancet Oncol. 2020;21(2):207-221.?http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31859245.
- Jagannath S, Lin Y, Goldschmidt H, et al. KarMMa-RW: A study of real-world treatment patterns in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) and comparison of outcomes to KarMMa [Poste