What We’re Learning About Isatuximab and How It’s Being Used to Treat Multiple Myeloma Patients

The latest CD38 inhibitor may offer slight advantages

• Isatuximab is a CD38-targeting therapy for multiple myeloma
• Clinical outcomes with the use of isatuximab may not be superior to daratumumab
• Isatuximab may offer other benefits including reduced infusion times and drug costs

The recent FDA approval of isatuximab in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone has opened up another avenue of treatment for multiple myeloma patients who have already undergone at least two prior lines of therapy. What remains to be seen is whether it will offer any advantages over daratumumab, another CD38 inhibitor.

“I don’t think we believe that there may be superiority from one CD38 antibody versus another, but it’s certainly nice to have this option,” UW Health hematologist-oncologist Dr. Natalie Callander tells SurvivorNet.

While there may be subtle differences between the two therapies — for example, with regard to cost or infusion time — it’s hard to “move the bar” in a class of drugs that already shows great efficacy, adds Dr. Nina Shah, hematologist-oncologist at UCSF Medical Center.

Dr. Robert Orlowski, chairman, ad interim, and director of myeloma at MD Anderson Cancer Center, says once patients have one or two lines of therapy under their belt, the combination of isatuximab, pomalidomide, and dexamethasone “can be a good consideration, which really helps in terms of the number of options for patients and caregivers.”

See More Highlights from Our Discussion

How Would You Treat a 60-Year-Old Woman with Relapsed Refractory Myeloma?
Weighing the Risks of Multiple Myeloma Therapy in the Time of COVID-19
Giving More Black Patients Access to Clinical Trials Has Real Benefits
Belamaf is ‘First-In-Class’ New Therapy for Relapsed/Refractory Myeloma, But Does it Beat Selinexor?
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