Scotland first in UK to approve new myeloma treatment

Patients with relapsed multiple myeloma gain access to life-extending therapy

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has approved Tecvayli – also known as teclistamab – for patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), making Scotland the first UK nation to accept this innovative treatment within its full licensed indication.

Patients in Scotland who have received at least three prior therapies, including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor, and an anti-CD38 antibody, and have shown disease progression on the last therapy, will now have access to this first-in-class bispecific antibody. Teclistamab has been shown to significantly extend life expectancy for these patients.

Before this approval, patients in Scotland who had undergone three lines of therapy faced a severe lack of effective treatment options and a poor prognosis.

Typically, the efficacy of treatments diminishes with each additional therapy, and if a patient relapses after receiving three prior treatments, their average life expectancy is reduced to just 9.7 months.

Scott Purdon, Head of Patient Advocacy at Myeloma UK, expressed his enthusiasm: “We’re absolutely delighted. Teclistamab is part of the first new class of drugs to be approved in Scotland in seven years and could be a lifeline for people who are close to running out of treatment options.

“It has shown excellent results in clinical trials and allowed some people who have never responded well to treatment to experience their very first complete remission. Until we have a cure, it is absolutely vital that all myeloma patients are given as many options to tackle their cancer as possible – no matter where they are on their treatment journey,” he added.

Teclistamab targets B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and cluster of differentiation 3 (CD3) receptors, redirecting T-cells to multiple myeloma cells to help destroy them.

The latest data from the Phase 1/2 MajesTEC-1 study shows that 63% of patients had an overall response to treatment, with 46% achieving a complete response or better.