A Non-interventional Study of Melphalan Flufenamide (Melflufen) (Pepaxti®) and Dexamethasone in Patients With Relapsed and/or Refractory Multiple Myeloma (R/RMM)

Multiple myeloma is the second most common hematologic malignancy in adults and despite the new therapies that have been developed in the last decades it remains incurable. Over the course of the disease, patients eventually become refractory to the various treatments. Therefore, new therapeutic options which utilize new mechanisms of action are essential.

Melphalan flufenamide (melflufen) represents such an additional therapeutic approach. Melflufen is a peptide-drug conjugate (PDC) which is highly lipophilic and rapidly incorporated into the tumor cells. Once inside the tumor cell, melflufen is hydrolyzed by peptidases, including aminopeptidases and esterases, to release its alkylator payload. The alkylating agent then induces DNA damage resulting in cell death.

Melphalan flufenamid in combination with Dexamethason was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in August 2022 for the treatment of patients with triple class refractory relapsed/refractory Multiple Myeloma who have received at least 3 prior lines of therapy. For patients with prior autologous stem cell transplantation, the time to progression should be at least 3 years from transplantation.

The non-interventional study MARINA aims to address open scientific questions regarding the effectiveness, as well as therapy and safety management of melflufen in a real-world setting. By collecting comprehensive real-world data - including the Disease Control Rate (DCR) as a key endpoint, which is of most value for patients in this late disease stage - MARINA will investigate the therapeutic benefit of melflufen in routine clinical practice.