01/26/2021 By Dr. Dan Platt
Summary: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the approval of a new medication for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The new drug, called Blenrep (belantamab mafodotin-blmf) is a targeted therapy that will be used in patients who have received at least 4 prior therapies.
Dr. Dan’s Takeaway: Blenrep is reserved for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma that has failed to respond to all other treatments. The reason for this is that Blenrep causes serious vision problems in a majority of patients. However, because patients who reach this point have few other options and are extremely difficult to treat, any drug that shows even a modest effect is seen as an improvement. In the clinical trial, 27% of patients showed a partial response and 3% had a complete response (remission).
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“One small way I am personally contributing to education is through sharing my take on academic and industry articles, using my medical background to boil down the jargon and pull out the benefits of the news for you.”
– Dan Platt, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
