Expanding Access to Bispecifics in R/R Multiple Myeloma Treatment

Ira Zackon, MD, a hematologist/oncologist with New York Oncology Hematology, and a senior medical director with Ontada, a data science company part of McKesson, discusses the real-world uptake of bispecific antibodies in community oncology practices and what it reveals about their utilization in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma treatment.

Transcription:

0:09 | To deliver these therapies, currently, it is complicated. First of all, they have a unique mechanism of action in how they get our immune system, and that is related, then, to potential adverse events that can happen as a form of immune activation, we call cytokine release syndrome, as well as sometimes some neurologic changes that can happen. And it is very important, therefore, to have a team that understands these therapies, that there is an education element, both within the practice as well as outside specialists or at the hospital who may be having to share in the care of these patients in the emergency room, in the intensive care or in the hospital setting, so you have to build a team that is knowledgeable, and you have to have processes that can monitor our patients so that we can safely administer therapies, and there is a feedback of communication and monitoring.

1:06 | So, for a community practice, it's resource intensive, and yet so important, because most of the patients are still cared for at the community setting and need access to this. So I would say, from our early look, that this can be delivered, and it is being delivered significantly. We expect that that will continue to grow. I would say that one of the potential limitations of this data is that, again, this represents practices within the US Oncology Network. So, it includes community based practices that are still often of size and with the resources to invest in it, as well as kind of the resourcing of this network to be able to structure your program and do it safely.

1:58 | That may not be generalizable yet across the spectrum of community oncology care, but it also defines how to do it and hopefully that, because it is going to be critical to have partnerships between centers of excellence, who are already doing this, and community settings that need to be able to deliver this, and sometimes in collaboration or coordination again, so that patients have full access to these therapies.