Published: 24 Jul 2020
EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP)
has recommended granting a conditional
marketing authorisation in the European Union for Blenrep
(belantamab mafodotin) to treat adult patients with relapsed and refractory multiple
myeloma who no longer respond to treatment with an immunomodulatory agent, a
proteasome inhibitor and a CD-38 monoclonal antibody.
Multiple myeloma is a cancer of a type of white blood cell called plasma
cells that is responsible for about 2% of all cancer deaths. Normal plasma
cells are found in the bone marrow and are an important part of the immune
system. Plasma cells make the antibodies that enable the body to recognise and
attack germs such as viruses or bacteria. They originate from B-cell lymphocytes
and form when B-cells respond to an infection. When plasma cells become
cancerous, they no longer protect the body from infections and produce abnormal
proteins that can cause problems affecting the kidneys, bones or blood.
Source: www.ema.europa.eu