A Chongqing drugmaker has launched what it says is China's first domestically developed bispecific antibody targeting BCMA and CD3, giving patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma a new treatment option.
Velinotamig injection, developed by Chongqing Genrix Biopharmaceutical, received conditional marketing approval from the National Medical Products Administration in August. The drug was presented at the Chinese Medical Association's 20th Conference on Hematology in Chongqing last week.
The antibody binds to BCMA, a protein on myeloma cells, and to CD3 on T cells, linking the two, so the immune cells attack the tumor.
Multiple myeloma is the second most common blood cancer. It causes anemia, bone damage, and kidney problems. Patients typically cycle through treatment, remission, and relapse, and each remission tends to be shorter than the last.
The company said clinical data showed patients achieving remission and significant tumor clearance about a month after starting treatment. Similar imported drugs cost more than 500,000 yuan (roughly $75,000) a year. Velinotamig, sold as Veiketuo, has been included in several local supplementary health insurance schemes, which are expected to ease costs for patients.
Zhang Xi, vice-chair of the association's hematology branch and a professor at Xinqiao Hospital of the Army Medical University, said the drug showed that Chongqing's biopharmaceutical industry could take a medicine from original research to market.
Chongqing has had five Class 1 innovative drugs approved, with more than 40 in clinical trials, according to the city's economy and information technology commission. The city has over 100 more in development and more than 40 in clinical trials. It is anticipated that one to three innovative drugs will be approved and launched annually over the next five years.
