Hailshadow
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced Tuesday that its FDA-approved multiple myeloma therapy Darzalex Faspro in a combination regimen cut the risk of disease progression or death by 58% compared to standard of care in a Phase 3 study.
A subcutaneously delivered CD38-directed antibody, Darzalex Faspro, is developed by JNJ in partnership with Danish biotech Genmab (GMAB) using Halozyme’s (NASDAQ:HALO) Enhanze drug delivery technology.
Citing initial data from its PERSEUS trial, JNJ said that 84.3% of those who received Darzalex Faspro with the traditional VRd regimen were alive without disease progression at the four-year mark, compared to 67.7% of those who only received VRd.
VRd is represented by a steroid called dexamethasone added to lenalidomide and bortezomib, two traditional multiple myeloma treatments marketed by Takeda (TAK) and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), as Velcade and Revlimid, respectively.
During the maintenance phase, all patients continued to receive lenalidomide, while those in the on-drug arm received Darzalex Faspro as an additional therapy.
The open-label trial enrolled newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients who were eligible for stem cell transplants.
The company said that the overall safety profile of the D-VRd regimen in PERSEUS was in line with the known safety profiles for Darzalex and VRd. Data were presented at the ongoing Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.
