More research needed
Although efficacy and safety results from this phase 1 study of odronextamab are encouraging, the durability, combinability, and potential for sequencing of bispecific antibodies deserves further investigation, said Catherine M. Diefenbach, MD, director of the clinical lymphoma program at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center in New York.
“Bispecifics in lymphoma as a class are extremely promising,” Dr. Diefenbach said in an interview. “They’re highly active and they activate an immune response against the tumor without inducing, for the most part, the same degree of neurotoxicity and CRS most CAR T cells do.
“I think the challenge is going to be to figure out how to give them in combination with other therapies to maximize durability, and how to sequence bispecifics and CAR T cells,” she added.
A global phase 2 trial of odronextamab in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell NHL is currently recruiting. According to Dr. Bannerji, further studies are planned to evaluate odronextamab with chemotherapy and in chemotherapy-free combinations in earlier lines of treatment.
The study is sponsored by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Bannerji reported research funding from Regeneron, AbbVie, F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd/Genentech Inc., and Pharmacyclics LLC, an AbbVie company. Dr. Bannerji’s spouse is an employee of Sanofi Pasteur.
SOURCE: Bannerji R et al. ASH 2020, Abstract 400.