AbbVie’s etentamig has a relatively cleaner safety profile and an administration schedule that could give it an edge over other BCMA-targeting multiple myeloma therapies on the market, according to BMO Capital Markets.
AbbVie’s investigational anti-BCMA bispecific T cell engager significantly cut the risk of disease progression or death in a late-stage multiple myeloma study.
In the Phase 3 CERVINO trial, AbbVie’s asset, dubbed etentamig, showed a 60% progression-free survival (PFS) benefit versus standard available therapies, according to a news release on Thursday. The study enrolled 421 patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who had undergone at least two prior lines of therapy.
Aside from PFS, etentamig also hit CERVINO’s other primary endpoint of objective response rate. A monthly course of etentamig elicited treatment response in 74% of patients, as opposed to 45.7% in the control arm. The CERVINO readout was presented at the 23rd International Myeloma Society Annual Meeting in Scotland.
These findings point to the “clear efficacy” of etentamig in RRMM patients, BMO Capital Markets wrote to investors on Thursday. But what could set AbbVie’s asset apart in the market, the analysts continued, is its “potentially differentiated administration profile.”
Etentamig makes use of a single step-up dose, after which the drug can be given once every four weeks. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson’s Tecvayli—a similar BCMA-targeting bispecific T cell engager that won its first multiple myeloma nod in 2022—requires two step-up doses before transitioning to a weekly then biweekly schedule. Patients only graduate to monthly frequency after 25 weeks.
A more recent competitor, Regeneron’s Lynozyfic, similarly requires two step-up doses and requires weekly and biweekly injections before patients transition to a monthly schedule. Lynozyfic was approved in July 2025 and is also a bispecific T cell engager that targets BCMA.
Safety also appears to be an edge for etentamig, BMO said. AbbVie reported a 28.3% rate of cytokine release syndrome, which the analysts called “relatively low.” Most of these episodes were grade 1, with no case reaching grade 3 or above. There was only one patient who developed immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS), which was rated grade 1, AbbVie said.
“Collectively, the data position etentamig as a potentially attractive BCMA option that could expand use beyond large academic centers and into community settings,” BMO noted.
AbbVie plans to bring CERVINO’s data to global regulatory authorities to determine a path forward for etentamig, though the pharma hasn’t yet provided a specific timeline for a submission.
