GSK myeloma medicine improves survival in trial, another step in the drug’s revival

LONDON — A blood cancer treatment from GSK helped patients live longer in a pivotal trial, a significant finding as the once-withdrawn drug mounts a comeback.

In the study, a treatment combination including the drug, called Blenrep, cut the risk of death by 42% among patients with multiple myeloma, a result that was statistically significant and that Hesham Abdullah, GSK’s oncology research leader, described as “quite a meaningful one.” While patients will need to be followed for longer to calculate the final median survival period, GSK has projected based on the data so far that it will reach 84 months for the Blenrep combination versus 51 months for the comparator arm. 

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GSK last month announced that Blenrep had succeeded in improving overall survival in the trial, called DREAMM-7. The detailed results were presented Monday at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in San Diego. 

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