Amir Fathi, MD from the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA discusses the mechanism of action of vadastuximab talirine and combining the agent with hypomethylating agents for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Vadastuximab talirine is an antibody drug conjugate; the antibody targets a protein on the surface of myeloid blasts (CD33). The preclinical studies were promising and led to a Phase I trial of vadastuximab talirine in patients with relapsed/refractory AML and patients in the upfront setting who did not have other options for therapy. The monotherapy was promising with a remission rate in the range of 20-40% depending on the dose. Further, Dr Fathi discusses the combination of vadastuximab talirine plus hypomethylating agents (azacitidine or decitabine) presented at ASH (NCT01902329).
Recorded at the 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, held in San Diego, CA.