Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US) multiple myeloma pipeline double arrows go hand in hand: Tec-dara has remarkable curative effects, novel CAR-T therapy is beginning to shine

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Morgan Stanley said that Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US) released several major clinical data at the recent American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting. Among them, Tecvayli and Darzalex combination therapy (Tec-Dara) had outstanding performance in the phase III clinical trial (MajesTec-3) of second-line treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), which is significantly superior to existing standard treatments. It is expected to promote the expansion of this combination therapy to more advanced treatment. At the same time, the new CAR-T therapy developed by Johnson & Johnson also showed potential competitiveness. Currently, Damo maintains Johnson & Johnson's “hold and wait” rating, and the target price is 190 US dollars.

The bank stated in a report that the MajesteC-3 clinical trial included 587 patients, and the results showed that the Tec-Dara combination was significantly superior to the control group in terms of key efficacy indicators (dPD/DVD protocol). Furthermore, this combination therapy also reduced the risk of death for patients, and treatment lasted longer. Even patients who had previously received anti-CD38 treatment showed progression-free survival benefits.

In terms of safety, the Tec-Dara combination had a similar incidence of adverse events associated with grade 3/4 treatment in the control group, and the incidence of grade 5 events was similar, and treatment interruption rates were lower. Although the incidence of infection with this combination was higher, and there were cases of death due to infection at the beginning of treatment, after adding an immunoglobulin prevention plan to the February 2023 plan, the infection rate of grade 3 and above decreased significantly after 6 months. Only 1 case of fatal infection occurred, and safety was effectively controlled. The incidence of cytokine release syndrome was 60.1%, and the incidence of neurotoxic syndrome associated with immune effector cells was only 1.0%.

Daima analysts said in this regard that the excellent data of the Tec-Dara combination is expected to drive its expansion from current late-line treatment to a more advanced one. As a major drug with annual sales of $14 billion under Johnson & Johnson, Darzalex already has a stable position in first-line treatment, and about 76% of American patients are still sensitive to it even after their first relapse. This has laid the foundation for the Tec-Dara combination to improve the line level. The bank predicts that Tecvayli's global sales will grow from US$1 billion in 2026 to US$9.3 billion in 2033, and its efficacy performance is competitive with LEGN.US (LEGN.US) /Johnson & Johnson's BCMA Car-T therapy Carvykti (CARTITUDE-4 trial data).

In addition, in the report, Damo also mentioned preliminary phase I clinical data on the novel CAR-T therapy KLN-1010 in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson with Kelonia. The treatment uses lentiviral vector delivery without pretreatment, which can reduce treatment logistics burdens and production costs. Among the 4 patients included who received at least third-line treatment, they all achieved negative responses with minimal residual disease. Of these, 1 case achieved complete remission, 3 cases were partially remission, and there were no neurotoxic syndromes associated with immune effector cells or delayed neurotoxicity, and the safety performance was good.

The bank believes that if subsequent trials go well, KLN-1010 is expected to become a new choice for multiple myeloma treatment, further strengthening Johnson & Johnson's leading position in this field, while putting long-term competitive pressure on existing BCMA CAR-T therapy.