In recent years, the multiple myeloma space has undergone rapid evolution, with advanced modalities like cell and immunotherapies increasingly moving into earlier lines of treatment as the segment edges closer to a cure.
One of the key dates in the calendar for the multiple myeloma field is International Myeloma Society’s (IMS) annual congress, which was held in Glasgow, Scotland between 23-26 September. At the event, healthcare professionals, industry players and more gathered to learn about the latest developments within the multiple myeloma pipeline – with key results debuted across the conference’s duration.
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With the curtains closed on this year’s IMS congress, Clinical Trials Arena takes a look at the late-stage study highlights from this year’s conference.
BMS’ CELMoD posts win in R/R MM
One of the readouts attracting attention at IMS 2026 was data from the Phase III EXCALIBER RRMM study (NCT04975997), which evaluated the potential of Bristol Myers Squibb’s (BMS) recently approved cereblon E3 ligase modulator (CELMoD) therapy, Zenbexus (iberdomide).
In this trial, the pharma giant pitted a combination of Zenbexus, Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) Darzalex (daratumumab) and dexamethasone (ZDd) against the commonly prescribed combination of daratumumab, bortezomib and dexamethasone (DVd) in 420 evaluable patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (R/R MM).
At a median follow-up of 15.7 months, 41.1% of patients treated with ZDd had maintained a minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative complete response (CR) – marking a significant increase in CR rates versus the 20.7% who achieved MRD-negative CR in the control arm. This effect was also maintained across subgroups, which includes patients who either had treatment experience or were refractory to lenalidomide.
While ZDd may have demonstrated better efficacy than DVd, 84.3% of patients treated with the former regimen experienced Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia versus 11.3% given the latter regimen – though BMS notes that this side effect was mostly manageable with treatment and temporary dosing interruptions. During the study, only 1% of patients discontinued treatment with Zenbexus due to neutropenia.
These positive results come a little over a month after Zenbexus became the first CELMoD to get the regulatory greenlight by nabbing an accelerated approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This builds on BMS’s multiple myeloma empire, which includes CAR-T cell therapy, Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel) and Pomalyst (pomalidomide).
J&J’s Carvykti touts 50% five-year treatment-free remission
Alongside the positive EXCALIBER RRMM outcomes, J&J’s presentation of long-term follow-up data from the Phase II CARTITUDE study (NCT04133636) on CAR-T therapy, Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel) also caught the eye of attendees. This trial looked at the potential of a single dose of Carvykti, a BCMA-directed therapy, in patients with early-line R/R MM.
At the five-year mark, 50% of patients treated with Carvykti remained alive and progression-free without maintenance therapy, while the five-year overall survival (OS) rate was 62.9% and the median progression-free survival (PFS) sat at 60.5 months.
Researchers also observed Carvykti’s durable treatment effect across patients with high-risk disease features, with half of the patients who remained progression-free at five years having at least one high-risk cytogenetic abnormality.
According to Niels van de Donk, professor of haematology, University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, these new CARTITUDE findings provide further evidence that the use of established therapies earlier on in the treatment paradigm could allow more patients “the opportunity achieve deep, durable remissions and long-term disease control without maintenance.”
These results will be another step in the right direction for J&J, as it looks to its multiple myeloma therapies like Darzalex, Tecvayli (teclistamab) and Talvey (talquetamab) into earlier treatment lines.
Analysts at GlobalData, parent company of Clinical Trials Arena, currently forecast that Carvykti will pull in sales of $6.3bn in 2032.
AbbVie debuts data on BiTE
Another notable readout from IMS 2026 came from pharma giant AbbVie, which presented detailed data from the Phase III CERVINO study (NCT06158841) evaluating the potential of its BCMA x CD3 bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) therapy, etentamig, in patients with R/R MM.
As per a presentation given at the conference, which builds on the positive CERVINO data debuted earlier this month, etentamig offered a statistically significant improvement in PFS over standard available therapies (SATs). At a median follow-up of 11.4 months, AbbVie’s BiTE reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 60%, while twice the number of patients in the etentamig arm were progression-free at 12 months versus the SAT groups. Researchers observed etentamig’s PFS benefit across all subgroups, including those with difficult-to-treat disease.
They also noted an early trend favouring etentamig in terms of OS, with almost 90% of patients treated with the BiTE remaining alive at the 12-month mark versus 72% of patients given SAT.
On top of this, the drug allowed more patients to achieve MRD negativity, with 82.8% of those treated with etentamig falling under the MRD 10⁻⁶ threshold compared with 12.5% in the SAT arms.
AbbVie also touted the safety of etentamig, as there was a low rate of severe infections and cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which are both common side effects linked to treatment with T-cell engagers. According to the Illinois-based pharma, this highlights etentamig’s “potential best-in-class” safety profile. The drug is also suitable for administration in non-academic treatment centres.
If etentamig were to secure the regulatory go-ahead, it would come into direct competition with J&J’s rival anti-BCMA x CD3 BiTE, Tecvayli. Analysts at GlobalData currently forecast that etentamig and Tecvayli will generate $756m and $5bn in sales, respectively, during 2032.
