As researchers search for new treat­ments for multiple myeloma, they are particularly interested in uncovering ther­a­pies that address the dis­ease in new ways. Survival and the chance for a cure are likely to be im­proved the most by new treat­ments that are noticeably dif­fer­en­t from other myeloma ther­a­pies.

One of the reasons Darzalex (dara­tu­mu­mab), for example, has been such an im­por­tant new treat­ment for multiple myeloma is because it rep­re­sents a new way of treating the dis­ease. Darzalex was not …

A major source of op­ti­mism in the myeloma com­munity these days is the large num­ber of poten­tially very ef­fec­tive treat­ments under devel­op­ment for the dis­ease.

Increasing the num­ber of ef­fec­tive treat­ment op­tions for the dis­ease could lead to a sizable jump in sur­vival for both newly diag­nosed and re­lapsed mul­ti­ple myeloma patients.

There is, how­ever, a common theme among many of the promising inves­ti­ga­tional ther­a­pies for mul­ti­ple myeloma that could limit their ability to make as large an im­pact on …

There cur­rently are more than 300 clin­i­cal trials ongoing around the world that are investigating treat­ments for multiple myeloma and looking for patient par­tic­i­pants. Most of these trials are exploring new myeloma ther­a­pies that have not yet been approved for use outside of clin­i­cal trials, and many of these “investigational” ther­a­pies, as they often are called, have the poten­tial to be extremely effective.

The number of new treat­ments under devel­op­ment for multiple myeloma is greater than it ever has been, …

Statistics compiled by The Myeloma Beacon show there is sub­stan­tial variation across U.S. cancer centers in the num­ber of au­tol­o­gous (own) stem cell trans­plants the centers per­form each year for people with mul­ti­ple myeloma.

The five busiest U.S. centers in terms of au­tol­o­gous trans­plants for mul­ti­ple myeloma carried out an average of 236 such trans­plants per center in 2017, the latest year for which data are pub­licly avail­able. That is a pace equal to almost one trans­plant per weekday at …

One of the lessons I have learned over time is that models are really valuable for making sense of things in life.

Now, the sort of models I have in mind aren’t the kind you build with plastic pieces and glue, or the kind you see in fashion shows.

The models I’m talking about are simplified versions of the real world, with the simplifications specifically designed to highlight the most im­por­tant features of whatever it is that’s being modeled.

Given …

The poten­tial new multiple myeloma ther­apy ECT-001 has been designated a Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) by the U.S. Food and Drug Admin­istra­tion (FDA).

The RMAT desig­na­tion is very similar in sig­nif­i­cance to the better known Break­through Therapy desig­na­tion, which also is granted by the FDA. Both the RMAT and Break­through Therapy desig­na­tions are in­tended to shorten the time it takes im­por­tant new ther­a­pies to gain FDA mar­ket­ing approval.

The key dif­fer­ence be­tween the two desig­na­tions is that the RMAT …

The U.S. Food and Drug Admin­istra­tion (FDA) has given the go-ahead for what is likely to be the first clin­i­cal trial of an allo­geneic chi­meric an­ti­gen re­cep­tor (CAR) T-cell ther­apy for mul­ti­ple myeloma.

The poten­tial new myeloma CAR T-cell ther­apy, known as UCARTCS1, is being devel­oped by the French bio­pharma­ceu­tical com­pany Cellectis. The com­pany an­nounced earlier this week that the FDA approved its Investi­ga­tional New Drug (IND) appli­ca­tion for UCARTCS1 in late Jan­u­ary.

The IND ap­prov­al means Cellectis can move …