MMRF Launches Exciting New Program to Answer Critical Questions About Immune Therapies for Myeloma

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation^® (MMRF^®) has just launched its agile, next-generation Translational Research Umbrella (TRU) program to answer some of the most pressing questions facing multiple myeloma patients now. Its first substudy will focus on important unknowns about two of myeloma’s most innovative immune therapies: CAR T-cell therapy and bispecific antibody treatments (bispecifics).

TRU builds on the CoMMpass^SM Study and Immune Atlas, two landmark MMRF data-generation initiatives that changed our understanding of multiple myeloma. Leveraging cutting-edge technology and partnerships with top medical centers, TRU enables us to rapidly gather data about how patients respond to treatments in the real world.

CAR T and bispecifics have been transformative for multiple myeloma patients. But patients still relapse after receiving them and some don’t respond at all; some patients experience certain side effects and others don’t. The first substudy, TRU-1, aims to answer questions that others aren’t incentivized to explore: Who benefits from these treatments? Who doesn’t? And why?

“TRU’s ultimate goal is to move the most promising options to earlier lines of care, inform new therapies, and optimize treatment for all patients,” said the MMRF’s Chief Scientific Officer George Mulligan, PhD. “In the future, this will help us predict which patients will have remarkable benefit from these therapies and who may not, or who perhaps may need to have one more drug added to get the best possible results.”

TRU-1, which is currently enrolling 150 patients, aims to not only gather detailed samples and data about how and why patients respond to these treatments, but to create a team of doctors and scientists who will analyze the results. Uniquely, this study will look at patients’ immune microenvironments and microbiomes along with the myeloma cells and link those findings to each patient’s clinical response to treatment.

A collaborative network of 15 major medical centers across the country will enroll patients and collect samples in collaboration with the MMRF. These centers will participate in the analysis of study data, and the MMRF will also share the entire dataset with interested researchers across the globe. By working across institutions, the MMRF and its partners can enroll more patients and collect more samples and data than any one center could on its own.

“The MMRF has been an important collaborative force in multiple myeloma since its founding, and TRU is yet another example of how we’re generating important data and pushing boundaries,” MMRF President and CEO Michael Andreini said. “Most importantly, as multiple myeloma’s leading research foundation, we’ve designed TRU to answer the most pressing questions for patients. We look forward to sharing insights from TRU-1 to inform how myeloma patients are treated with immune therapies in the future.”