Dr. Dhakal on the Mechanism of Action of Orva-Cel in Multiple Myeloma

Binod Dhakal, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, discusses the mechanism of action of orvacabtagene autoleucel (orva-cel; JCARH125) in multiple myeloma.

Orva-cel is an investigational CAR T-cell therapy product that demonstrated an overall response rate of 91% in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, according to data from the phase 1/2 EVOLVE study (NCT03430011).

The product targets BCMA, which is currently the leading target antigen for CAR T-cell therapies in multiple myeloma, says Dhakal. Compared with idecabtagene vicleucel, orva-cel is a fully humanized product, Dhakal explains. Additionally, although data have not demonstrated that soluble BCMA affects responses to CAR T-cell therapy, orva-cel has a very low affinity for soluble BCMA, concludes Dhakal.