EHA Press Briefing, Saturday, June 15, 2019

| Big data for blood cancer: HARMONY can accelerate your research to benefit patients with Hematologic Malignancies
Presenter: Dr Jesús María Hernández Rivas, HARMONY Alliance Project Coordinator - Spain

| Burning out the T-ALL engine: NADK is a new therapeutic target in T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (abstract S857)
Presenter: Dr Etienne De Braekeleer – United Kingdom

THE NUCLEOTIDE KINASE NADK CONSTITUTES A METABOLIC VULNERABILITY OF NOTCH1-DRIVEN T-ALL

Conclusion  Our findings propose that the intracellular domain of NOTCH1 activates NADK to enhance the production NADP+/NADPH, a function required to support it proliferative effects. This frames NADK as a putative novel therapeutic vulnerability of NOTCH1-driven T-ALL and potentially other NOTCH1-driven cancers.

| Overcoming the “Don’t Eat Me” Signal of Refractory Lymphomas (abstract S867) Presenter: Dr Mark Roschewski – United States of America

THE FIRST-IN-CLASS ANTI-CD47 ANTIBODY HU5F9-G4 WITH RITUXIMAB INDUCES DURABLE RESPONSES IN RELAPSED/REFRACTORY DLBCL AND INDOLENT LYMPHOMA: INTERIM PHASE 1B/2 RESULTS

Conclusion: 5F9+rituximab is a novel immunotherapy blocking a key macrophage/cancer checkpoint. It is well tolerated with rapid and durable responses observed in both heavily pre-treated DLBCL and indolent lymphoma patients.  Ph2 enrollment is ongoing (NCT02953509). Funded by Forty Seven and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

| A Phase 3 Study of Venetoclax or Placebo in Combination with Bortezomib and Dexamethasone in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma (abstract LB2601) Presenter: Dr Shaji Kumar- United States of America

A PHASE 3 STUDY OF VENETOCLAX OR PLACEBO IN COMBINATION WITH BORTEZOMIB AND DEXAMETHASONE IN PATIENTS WITH RELAPSED/REFRACTORY MULTIPLE MYELOMA

Conclusion: Although the addition of Ven to Bd significantly improved PFS, ORR, ≥VGPR, and uMRD rates, the increased risk of death results in an unfavorable benefit-risk profile in a broad population. In t(11;14) pts, in addition to improvements in PFS, a positive trend in OS with Ven was observed, suggesting that a biomarker-driven approach with Ven may be most appropriate in MM. 

| Acalabrutinib significantly prolongs time patients live with previously treated CLL without their disease progressing (abstractLB2606) - Presenter: Dr Paolo Ghia - Italy

ASCEND PHASE 3 STUDY OF ACALABRUTINIB VS INVESTIGATOR’S CHOICE OF RITUXIMAB PLUS IDELALISIB (IDR) OR BENDAMUSTINE (BR) IN PATIENTS WITH RELAPSED/REFRACTORY (R/R) CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (CLL)

Conclusion:  Acalabrutinib monotherapy significantly improved PFS with a more tolerable safety profile compared with IdR/BR in pts with R/R CLL.