ASH 2025 | Long-term disease control associated with epcoritamab and CAR T-cell therapy in LBCL

Epcoritamab, as we know, is one of the two bispecific antibodies approved for large cell lymphoma within the U.S. And also is approved globally for patients with relapsed/refractory disease in a third line plus setting. One of the biggest controversies we have with the bispecific antibodies as compared to CAR T-cell therapy is the curative potential of bispecific antibodies. Because these studies started later than the CAR-T studies, we just don’t have the maturity of the data. Ideally, you’d like to see some sort of plateau, especially at the five-year mark to sort of ensure that you’re curing these patients. So with this most recent update, what we are seeing is still more durability of responses. In addition to some of the other abstracts presented at the meeting with epcoritamab, we’re seeing very little late relapses after 24 months, suggesting that, again, the majority of these patients potentially are cured with this treatment option. Given that we will have limitations to the accessibility of CAR T-cell therapy, just because you have to be in a CAR T-cell center, this data set supports potentially utilizing these agents in areas where we cannot get patients to CAR T-cell therapy, but still providing them a more effective treatment option than what we can traditionally do with standard chemotherapy to hopefully, again, allow more patients to be cured from their large-cell lymphoma. Now, as we continue to progress more, we’ll get more information about toxicities, infection rates with these agents, because that is a concern with the prolonged B-cell aplasia. But this abstract, again, demonstrating durability of some responses in these patients is very encouraging. As well, we have data that’s showing even if you pause some patients, you’re able to still restart and continue to have durable remission. And in some of these patients actually who don’t actually restart epcoritamab after a period of time, we’re not seeing any relapses. Again, suggesting, again, fingers crossed that, again, this treatment could be curative. So, again, I would say maybe as 2027, 2028, we’ll have more definitive information about the curability of the bispecific antibodies, which, again, give more of a more definitive option for our patients. Because, again, as we know, access is an issue. Some countries still don’t have ability to do CAR T-cell therapy. So, again, having an off-the-shelf option will be very important for some of these countries and even in the U.S. and some of these areas where we have inaccessibility issues.

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