Dr. Wong on an Investigational Antibody-Drug Conjugate in Multiple Myeloma

Sandy Wong, MD, assistant professor, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, discusses an investigational antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) in multiple myeloma.

The ADC (GSK2857916) is being developed by GlaxoSmithKline. It has been studied in a phase I, first-in-human trial that was presented at the 2017 ASH Annual meeting. In the dose-escalation phase, there were no dose-limiting toxicities, says Wong. Patients in the trial were very heavily pretreated; many of them had received at least 5 prior lines of therapy and were refractory to immunomodulatory agents, proteasome inhibitors, and daratumumab (Darzalex). Despite that, the response rates were impressive at around 60%.

Based on those data, the FDA granted a breakthrough therapy designation to the agent for the treatment of patients who have failed at least 3 prior lines of therapy, including an anti-CD38 antibody and are refractory to a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory (IMiD) agent. Some hematologic as well as ocular toxicities were observed, including grade 3 dry eyes, corneal keratitis, and eye pain.