B-Cell Maturation Antigen (BCMA): hot target for emerging treatment modalities

B-Cell Maturation Antigen (BCMA): hot target for emerging treatment modalities

The highly restricted expression of B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) to plasma cells and its role in the survival and growth for multiple myeloma cells makes BCMA a good potential target for enhanced immunotherapeutic strategies. This report describes and analyzes the

• Scientific rationale for BCMA-targeted therapies;
• Preclinical proof-of-concept of BCMA blockade;
• Clinical experience with BCMA-targeted therapies;
• The competitive landscape of BCMA-targeted treatment modalities;
• Profiles of anti-BCMA CAR T-cells, antibody-drug conjugate and T-cell redirecting bispecific antibodies:
• Profiles of companies involved in develompent of anti-BCMA therapy candidates.

Especially activity-enhanced antibodies and cells such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and T-cell redirecting bispecific antibodies as well as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells, respectively, will benefit from the high target selectivity of BCMA to avoid on-target, off-tumor toxicity. As a consequence, novel cellular and humoral BCMA-targeted treatment modalities have emerged and resulting product candidates entered first-in-human clinical evaluation. Further development candidates are undergoing IND-enabling studies.