Abbvie and Genmab’s bispecific shines again

Abbvie and Genmab have long claimed that their anti-CD20 bispecific epcoritamab could be best in class. Now new data add weight to these assertions. The latest topline results from the Epcore NHL-1 trial, in third-line or later large B-cell lymphoma, paint epco in a favourable light versus rival CD20-targeting T-cell engagers in similar populations, as well as against Roche’s antibody-drug conjugate Polivy, which gained accelerated approval last year. Roche has boasted that Polivy is as good as Car-T, something that also looks true for epco, at least on a cross-trial basis. Notably, 39% of the epco-treated patients had already progressed on Car-T. As for adverse events, Abbvie and Genmab said only that cytokine release syndrome was most common, with a 2.5% incidence of grade 3 CRS. More details on both efficacy and safety will be keenly awaited, but the groups have already signalled plans to seek accelerated approval this year in DLBCL. Another anti-CD20 bispecific, Roche and Biogen’s mosunetuzumab, is ahead, with a rolling submission already under way. However, rather than DLBCL the groups are seeking the go-ahead in a slower-growing form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, follicular lymphoma.