The potential of our pipeline

Anne: Bristol Myers Squibb is taking a deliberately broad approach with its research and development in cell therapy, as evidenced by our pipeline. We are looking to tackle industry challenges in order to deliver on the promise of cell therapy for the future. To do this, we are exploring novel ways to make autologous CAR T cell therapies more efficient, scalable and accessible through new manufacturing platforms. We are working to develop allogeneic, or off-the-shelf, CAR T cell therapy, which has the potential to get cell therapies to patients faster. We are also continuing to explore next-generation approaches to CAR T and other cell therapies to build on innovation in the understanding of hematologic malignancies, but also to enable treatment of solid tumors.

Q: What is the significance of the cell therapy data being shared at ASH 2021?

Anne: Our data at ASH demonstrate the potential of cell therapy to be practice-changing in hematologic cancers with the goal of improving upon standards of care. Cell therapy as a “living product” has the potential to provide an effective, personalized, one-time treatment that really changes how cancer treatment is approached.

Q: How is Bristol Myers Squibb working to disrupt immune suppression? 

Mark: Bristol Myers Squibb is a leader in protein degradation, and we have a long history of developing meaningful medicines that target the ubiquitin-proteasome system. By leveraging this system, researchers can harness the body’s natural ability to target and remove unnecessary or harmful disease-causing proteins to maintain equilibrium and keep people healthy. 

Protein degradation is a major focus for research and early development. We are studying cereblon modulating agents that act as molecular glues and potentially address a broad range of diseases, alone or in combination with other agents, as well as ligand-directed degraders (LDDs), also called heterobifunctional agents, which are useful for targets that aren’t amenable to the molecular glue approach. 

Q: What excites you about the protein degradation data being presented at ASH 2021? 

Mark: We are particularly pleased to be presenting data at ASH involving CELMoD agents that were designed with a very specific mechanism of action in mind. These newer agents are demonstrating promising results with the potential to change the treatment landscape for certain hematologic cancers.