Dr. Holstein Discusses Mechanism of bb21217 in Myeloma

Sarah Holstein, MD, PhD, associate professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center, discusses the mechanism of action for bb21217 in the treatment of patients with myeloma.

The community has only seen early data with this new BCMA-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product, but the results have been promising. Holstein says that bb21217 is taking the construct from bb2121 and enhancing it, taking the T cells and developing them in the company of a drug that alters their phenotype and makes them more memory-like. The hypothesis is that this will improve the persistence of the T cells when they are administered into the patient and create a more durable response.

In the CRB-402 trial presented at the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting, bb21217 was found to be safe and tolerable. The objective response rate was 83.3%, with a very good partial response or better rate of 75%. Complete remissions were still achieved as far as 10 months from infusion time. In terms of safety, 67% of the cohort developed cytokine release syndrome, but only 1 patient demonstrated a grade 3 event.