Biotech Strategy Blog

Commentary on Science, Innovation & New Products with a focus on Oncology, Hematology & Immunotherapy

Posts tagged ‘BCMA’

Critical Analysis of the Emerging Trispecific Landscape

Dawn of a new era or a setting sun on a tricky approach…

Three is a magic number – except when it isn’t.

Trispecific antibodies are one of the emerging stars on the multispecific stage, promising to hit not one, not two, but three targets with a single swing. It’s a tempting idea – who doesn’t love a good triple play?

With great ambition also comes great complexity, and not every design is ready for primetime.

At this year’s AACR, the trispecific party got a little louder.

From PD-1/CTLA-4/VEGF mashups to CD3-based T cell whisperers, the posters are brimming with innovation – and more than a few eyebrow-raisers.

So before we get swept up in the hype, let’s pause and ask a provocative question: is this a triple threat or a triple headache waiting to happen?

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Barging past ex vivo CAR-T cells

Sandeman rabelos barges in Oporto, Portugal

With four agents already in the clinic and a bunch of others undergoing IND enabling studies, in vivo CAR-T cell therapies are certainly coming more to the fore of late.

Yes, they’re early – yet a bigger impact than many realise might be the end result in a couple of years time if the clinical data hold up.

In our latest post we look at a new approach to tackling in vivo CAR-T cells from an unexpected source, which may be heading into the clinic soon…

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Three Times A Charm

Downtown San Francisco

The biotech industry kicked off the 2025 JP Morgan Healthcare conference this week with a flurry of major oncology deals totaling over $4.6 billion, highlighting both the sector’s continued appetite for innovative cancer therapeutics as well as its willingness to place big bets on clinical stage assets.

While Pericles reminds us that true value lies in impact rather than price tags, these deals offer some fascinating insights into current market dynamics, strategic priorities, and the evolving landscape of cancer treatment.

Let’s examine three notable transactions where each tell us a different story about the state of oncology drug development…

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Innovator’s Dilemma – Promise and Potential of Bispecific Combination Strategies

Imagine a scenario… a symphony of therapeutic agents working in harmony, each contributing its part to achieve remission in even the most refractory hematologic malignancies. Yet, as with any great orchestra, a poorly tuned instrument – or in this case, a poorly considered combination – can disrupt the entire performance.

Bispecific T cell engagers have emerged as new virtuosos in cancer therapy especially in refractory settings involving hematologic malignancies such as lymphomas and myeloma, although their integration into combination regimens may be as challenging as it is promising.

Don’t be caught napping though!

In our latest ASH analysis, we’ll explore how some of these combinations perform, where they falter, and whether they can truly expand the therapeutic repertoire or simply shrink the index of possibilities.

In this review we will explore half a dozen different bispecifics when given in combination with an additional therapy to determine if:

  • They add anything to hematologic malignancies over what we would expect for monotherapy
  • Whether or not they shrink the therapeutic index
  • Whether anything else of note stood out (positive or negative)

If they fail on the first and negatively impact the second then they are highly unlikely to be a candidate for further clinical development!

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Precision vs Power – The Next Generation of Immune Reset

For over a decade, cell therapy in cancer has embraced a simple philosophy: maximum firepower to eliminate malignant cells.

As these powerful tools enter autoimmune disease trials, however, a fascinating evolution is underway as companies begin releasing research on their pipelines at conferences.

Are the data breathing fire – or even too much of it?

From the early groundbreaking lupus studies to more precision targeting tools coming through preclinical development, researchers are discovering that finesse may well trump force when it comes to treating chronic inflammatory conditions.

This shift – from indiscriminate B cell destruction to more selective targeting of disease-driving cells – could redefine how we reset dysfunctional immune systems.

New data from the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) meeting held this week in Washington DC showcases this transformation while highlighting innovative approaches under the radar, which may finally thread the needle between efficacy and safety.

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10 things I learned about ADCs at AACR 2024

San Diego bound for AACR 2024!

In our fourth AACR 2024 preview we’ve going to highlight some emerging trends you should watch out for. We took a look across over 130 abstracts and in an unbiased fashion, delved into the weeds to see what would shake out.

The findings were interesting to say the least:

Some expected, some unexpected surprises, others puzzling, a few provocative ones made me stop and think more about their approach.

It’s all here, black and white…

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Taking Myeloma by the Horns

The recent failure of the British Air Traffic Control System brought home to many the importance of flight plans and how easily and suddenly things can change.

Knowing the direction and waypoints a journey will take, allows travel to be co-ordinated across countries, as well as in combination with others.

The same idea applies to complex diseases such as multiple myeloma where we see treatment regimens evolve as new therapeutic modalities such as CAR-T cells or bispecific T cell engagers come to market and new clinical trial data is published.

Highland cows with horns are a fearsome lot!

With a raft of new data coming out post-pandemic, experts are starting to piece together new treatment plans and thoughts about where the field is going.

BSB will be at ASH23 in San Diego this year, so consider this post our first preview of some of the discussions and challenges we expect to hear about in multiple myeloma.

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Trials and Tribulations

Lifting the bridge in downtown Chicago

It’s time to talk turkey about CAR-T cell therapies!

No this isn’t a story about a certain biotech in Maryland, but rather a look at progress in solid tumours, an area where CAR-T cell therapies have struggled with persistence and durability while their IO antibody counterparts have largely excelled.

Can it be done?

What kind of challenges need to be tackled and how is progress being made?

To find out more, check out our commentary from ASCO below…

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Challenges and opportunities with CAR-T cell therapies

Are we putting the cart before the horse – yea or neigh?

We’ve been following and writing about the CAR-T cell therapy space for over a decade now, with plenty of trials and tribulations along the way for both products and companies alike.

With the fanfare around the latest Penn data on Friday, we’re going to take a slightly different approach from the lay media and explore some of the ins and outs around the big strategic picture.

We’ll also be looking at some new data on multiple myeloma and CAR-T cell therapies. The latter are seeing the emergence of some interesting early studies of late…

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How bispecifics will make an impact in myeloma

With all the time and attention surrounding the BCMA-based products in multiple myeloma, including ADCs and CAR-T cell therapies, it’s easy to forget there are other approaches coming down the pike.

Building new mosaics and novel regimens in myeloma is coming

Beyond the hullabaloo there are various bispecific antibodies and T cell engagers in early stage development – not only is the modality different, but the targets might differ too.

How are all of these novel approaches doing in the clinic and how might they all fit together in future regimens? The myeloma world as we know it of proteasome inhibitors and IMiDs may not yet be a thing of the past, but the landscape is certainly changing.

In our third installment of the myeloma mini-series, we tackle these issues and look at near and medium term strategic directions, which can be considered and how these might impact different combination approaches and lines of therapy in order to further improve outcomes in this disease.

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