Trial Shows Experimental Cancer Drug Helped Reduce Risk of Death in Common Blood Cancer

Results of a trial of GSK’s experimental cancer drug Blenrep showed that the drug used in combination with other treatments reduced the risk of death by 42 percent in multiple myeloma, at or after first relapse, compared to an existing treatment.

Multiple myeloma is the third most common type of blood cancer and is generally considered treatable but not curable.

According to an interim analysis of data from a trial called “DREAMM-7,” Blenrep used in combination with the drug bortezomib plus the steroid dexamethasone showed statistically significant overall survival results compared to a standard of care daratumumab combination as a second line or later treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, GSK said.

GSK added that the data projects that on average, patients on the Blenrep combination will survive nearly three years longer. “This represents an important advancement that could redefine the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma,” GSK’s head of oncology Hesham Abdullah said in a statement.

Blenrep had seen several setbacks over the last couple of years after it was pulled from the U.S. markets in 2022 after failing a late-stage study designed to show that it was better than an existing treatment. However, positive results from the DREAMM-7 and DREAMM-8 trials over the past year could mean a comeback for the drug.

GSK has recently refiled a license application for Blenrep in combinations with bortezomib plus dexamethasone and pomalidomide plus dexamethasone; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to make a decision in July 2025.