First ever anti-BCMA agent approved in the USA

Efforts from UK drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) to expand its interests in oncology have started to bear fruit, with US approval for a first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Blenrep (belantamab mafodotin-blmf), the first ever anti-BCMA agent, for people with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma in the later-line setting.

Patients must have already been treated with four other lines of therapy, including an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory agent.