BiTE Therapy as a CAR T Alternative for Multiple Myeloma Treatment

Gurbakhash Kaur, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, discusses the use of bispecific T-cell engagers (BiTEs) as an alternative to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

According to Kaur, BiTEs provide an off-the-shelf approach for patients. CAR T cells require lymphodepletion, after which the cells need to be engineered. For patients in crisis, they may not be able to wait for CAR T cells to be manufactured. According to Kaur, both CAR T cells and BiTE therapies will have a major role in the treatment of multiple myeloma. 

0:08 | BiTEs, especially with AMG 420, are also BCMA-targeted agents, but that will be an off-the-shelf type of approach, whereas with CAR T cells you need to give lymphodepletion and wait a couple of weeks for the cells to be engineered. Many patients, when they are in crisis and they run out of options, don’t have the time to wait for a CAR T-cell to be manufactured. Both of these therapies, CAR T cells and BiTE therapies, will have a major role to play in multiple myeloma treatment.