Dr. Robert Rifkin, medical oncologist and hematologist at the University of Colorado in Steamboat Springs. He was also a clinical investigator in the trial that led to the approval of BLENREP, a multiple myeloma drug from GSK. Multiple myeloma is the second most common blood cancer, and while the prognosis has dramatically improved, BLENREP is a novel treatment for patients whose disease has relapsed after other therapies. It is the first drug antibody conjugate approved for relapsed multiple myeloma, targeting the BCMA antigen, which is present on nearly all myeloma cells.

Robert explains, "This is a condition that is really what I would call a disease of the Medicare population. So the median age of diagnosis is often early 60s, but occasionally you do see the younger patients with more aggressive disease. It's thought that African Americans who contract myeloma also may have a more virulent form of the disease."

"Right now we live in a great day and age where we have a tremendous number of good treatments, both upfront, which we really won't be discussing today. And then in patients that have unfortunately relapsed and failed other lines of therapy, that's where the exciting new drug BLENREP comes into play. It's going to have a very specific slot in the myeloma armamentarium."

"So BLENREP is unique in that it targets something on the myeloma cells called the BCMA target or B-cell maturation antigen target. That's expressed in 98% of patients with myeloma. So it provides a really great target to shoot at, if you will. Right now, we really have sort of three main classes of therapy to go after it: CAR T-cells and bispecific antibodies that your audience will likely be familiar with. This one is unique in that it's the first drug antibody conjugate approved to treat myeloma. So it's not a cellular therapy, but instead it's a molecule that has the BCMA that binds to the myeloma cells, and then it unloads a payload to kill the myeloma cells. So that's nice. You don't have to go to a huge center with experience in cellular therapies. It can be done readily in the community."

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