Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) just delivered some compelling news in the fight against multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that affects plasma cells in bone marrow. The company released topline results from its Phase 3 MajesTEC-9 study, and the numbers tell a pretty convincing story about its Tecvayli drug.
What the Trial Showed
The MajesTEC-9 study pitted Tecvayli (teclistamab-cqyv) monotherapy against standard treatment combinations: either pomalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (PVd) or carfilzomib and dexamethasone (Kd). The patient population had relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma and had received one to three prior lines of therapy—meaning these are people for whom earlier treatments stopped working.
Here's where things get interesting. Tecvayli showed a 71% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to standard care. That's substantial. Even more notable: a 40% reduction in the risk of death overall. This happened in a patient population that was predominantly refractory to anti-CD38 therapy and lenalidomide, which are commonly used medications in multiple myeloma treatment. When you're dealing with patients who've already developed resistance to standard drugs, results like these matter.
Building on Earlier Success
This marks the second Phase 3 study supporting Tecvayli regimens as a potential new standard of care as early as first relapse. The data confirm superior progression-free survival and overall survival with Tecvayli compared to standard care as early as second-line treatment.
These results complement the MajesTEC-3 findings published in The New England Journal of Medicine, which demonstrated significant progression-free survival and overall survival benefits when Tecvayli was combined with Darzalex Faspro (daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj) in patients who were naïve or sensitive to anti-CD38 therapy.