Citations

Introduction: Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) is an expected and potentially life-threatening toxicity associated with CAR T cell therapy. Idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel, bb2121), a BCMA-directed CAR T cell therapy, demonstrated promising efficacy in triple-class exposed and highly refractory patients with multiple myeloma in the pivotal phase 2 KarMMa study, with an overall response rate (ORR), complete response (CR) rate, median duration of response, and median progression-free survival of 73%, 33%, 10.7 months, and 8.8 months, respectively, across the target dose levels of 150−450 × 106 CAR+ T cells, and 82%, 39%, 11.3 months, and 12.1 months at the highest target dose of 450 × 106 CAR+ T cells (Munshi et al. J Clin Oncol. 2020;38[suppl, abstr]:8503). Identifying the patterns of CRS evolution, associations with baseline patient and disease characteristics, and the impact of interventions are key to understanding this adverse event in the context of ide-cel. In addition, a better understanding of lower-grade CRS, including maximum grade 1 events, is important as these are easier to manage and represent a lower burden on the healthcare system. We report results of an examination of CRS events in the KarMMa study. Methods: Patients in the KarMMa trial (NCT03361748) were required to have ≥3 prior regimens (including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor, and an anti-CD38 antibody) and were refractory to their last regimen per International Myeloma Working Group criteria. Patients received ide-cel target doses of 150, 300, or 450 × 106 CAR+ T cells 2 days after lymphodepletion with cyclophosphamide 300 mg/m2 plus fludarabine 30 mg/m2 daily for 3 days. The primary endpoint was ORR. The key secondary endpoint was CR rate; other secondary endpoints included safety. CRS was graded according to criteria in Lee et al. (Blood. 2014;124:188). Patient characteristics and CRS management were examined by CRS grade to identify variables associated with higher-grade CRS. Management of CRS included tocilizumab 8 mg/kg with the addition of corticosteroids and other agents as needed. Results: Of 128 patients treated with ide-cel, 107 (84%) experienced CRS; 61 patients (48%) had maximum grade 1 and 46 (36%) had maximum grade ≥2 CRS (grade 2, n=39; grade 3, n=5; grade 4, n=1; and grade 5, n=1). Baseline characteristics were generally balanced among patients with maximum grade 1 and grade ≥2 (Table). Thirty patients (65%) with maximum grade ≥2 CRS progressed from initial grade 1 events, whereas 16 (35%) had initial grade ≥2. Median time to onset of CRS was the same (1 day) regardless of initial or maximum grade (Table). Median duration was 5.0 days in patients with maximum grade 1, 5.5 days in patients with maximum grade 2, and 11.0 days in patients with maximum grade ≥3 CRS. Median duration was shorter in patients with maximum grade 1 CRS than in those with initial grade 1 events that progressed to grade ≥2 (5.0 days vs 7.0 days). Most patients (83%) with maximum grade ≥2 CRS received at least 1 dose of tocilizumab and approximately one-third (35%) received corticosteroids, compared with 48% and 5%, respectively, of patients with maximum grade 1 CRS. A higher percentage of patients with initial grade ≥2 vs initial grade 1 CRS received multiple doses of tocilizumab (50% vs 37%) or at least 1 dose of corticosteroids (50% vs 27%). Conclusions: Almost half of the patients treated with ide-cel experienced maximum grade 1 CRS. Baseline disease and patient characteristics were similar among patients experiencing grade 1 and higher-grade CRS events. CRS was effectively managed with tocilizumab and corticosteroids, and more frequent use of these interventions in patients with grade ≥2 CRS was not associated with prolonged CRS events. The time to onset of CRS was predictable and equivalent in patients with maximum grade 1 and higher-grade CRS events. Duration of CRS was similar in patients with maximum grade 1 and 2 but was longer in patients with maximum grade ≥3 CRS. These data demonstrate the feasible management of CRS and thus confirm the tolerability of ide-cel in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. Table 1 Disclosures Kansagra: Karyopharm: Honoraria; Pharmacyclics: Honoraria; Alnylam: Honoraria; BMS: Honoraria; GSK: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; Takeda: Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria. Lin:Novartis: Consultancy; Sorrento: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gamida Cells: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding; Vineti: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy; Legend BioTech: Consultancy; Merck: Research Funding. Berdeja:BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Cellularity: Research Funding; Lilly: Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; Poseida: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bioclinica: Consultancy; Bluebird: Research Funding; Prothena: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy; Kesios: Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Constellation: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Teva: Research Funding; Servier: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding; CRISPR Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Glenmark: Research Funding; EMD Sorono: Research Funding; Vivolux: Research Funding; Genentech, Inc.: Research Funding; CURIS: Research Funding; Acetylon: Research Funding. Shah:GSK, Amgen, Indapta Therapeutics, Sanofi, BMS, CareDx, Kite, Karyopharm: Consultancy; BMS, Janssen, Bluebird Bio, Sutro Biopharma, Teneobio, Poseida, Nektar: Research Funding. Oriol:Celgene: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy. Yakoub-Agha:Celgene: Honoraria; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Gilead/Kite: Honoraria, Other: travel support; Janssen: Honoraria. Einsele:Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; GlaxoSmithKline: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Rambaldi:BMS/Celgene: Honoraria, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); University of Milan: Current Employment; Roche: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Support of parent study and funding of editorial support. Received travel support., Research Funding; Omeros: Honoraria, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); Pfizer: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company). Advisory board and speaker fees from Pfizer.; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company). Research grant from Amgen Inc.; Sanofi: Honoraria, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); Astellas: Honoraria, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); Gilead: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel support from Gilead.. Truppel-Hartmann:bluebird bio, Inc: Current Employment, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); F. Hoffmann La Roche: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Ended employment in the past 24 months. Rowe:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Current Employment. Wang:Bristol Myers Squibb: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Agarwal:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Campbell:BMS: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Lonial:Takeda: Consultancy, Other: Personal fees, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Personal fees; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Personal fees; Millennium: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Personal fees, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Personal fees, Research Funding; Onyx: Honoraria; Genentech: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; TG Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Personal fees; JUNO Therapeutics: Consultancy; GSK: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Personal fees; Abbvie: Consultancy.

Deregulated transcription and cell cycle control are hallmarks of cancer that are especially frequent in multiple myeloma (MM). Largely non-overlapping sets of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) regulate cell division and RNA polymerase II (Pol II)-dependent transcription; and targeting of cell cycle CDKs has been long pursued as an attractive therapeutic strategy. Among CDKs, CDK7 presents a unique therapeutic opportunity as it functions as a CDK activating kinase (CAK), licensing the activity of cell cycle CDKs, and also serves as a core component of the general transcription factor TFIIH. Here we elucidated the biological role of CDK7 and its transcriptional regulatory landscape in MM, using genetic as well chemical approaches, including tools for CDK7 rapid protein degradation (dTAG) and the selective covalent inhibitor YKL-5-124 that targets a cysteine residue (C312) located outside of the kinase domain. We have observed that CDK7 inhibition via YKL-5-124 robustly inhibited the phosphorylation of the CDK1, 2 and 4 activation loops in a representative panel of MM cell lines at concentrations as low as 50 nM. This reduction was not observed in MM cells expressing a resistant mutation in the reactive cysteine (C312S). Consistent with decrease of CAK activity, we observed G1 arrest and S phase loss after CDK7 inhibition, which was also associated with a rapid and transient loss of Ser2 and Ser5 phosphorylation of the RNA Pol2 C-terminal domain. To understand the effect of CDK7 inhibition on MM cell growth and viability, we evaluated activity of YKL-5-124 across a large panel of 25 MM cell lines and observed a significant inhibition of MM cell proliferation, with a significantly lower IC50 compared to PHA-activated normal donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), suggesting a specific sensitivity of MM cells to CDK7 inhibition. Longer exposure to YKL-5-124 caused apoptotic cell death in MM cells; however treatment with an inactive analog or in cells expressing the C312S mutation failed to inhibit MM cell proliferation, confirming that the antiproliferative potency of YKL-5-124 resides in its unique characteristic to covalently bind to C312 domain. Importantly, CDK7 inhibition impaired primary MM cells proliferation alone and when cultured in the presence of BM microenvironment. Selective pharmacological degradation of endogenously tagged CDK7 confirmed impact of CDK7 inhibition on MM cell proliferation via inhibition of CDK7 transcriptional and cell cycle activities. To complement the pharmacological studies, we have established MM cells to express inducible CRISPR/Cas9 constructs encoding 4 independent small guide RNAs targeting CDK7, resulting in the reduction of the abundance of CDK7 protein by 20-60% which was sufficient to inhibit MM cell viability over time, phenocopying pharmacologic inhibition of CDK7. These results support the view that CDK7 is a pharmacologically relevant target for MM. Gene expression analysis after CDK7 inhibition in MM1S and H929 cells revealed that transcripts for only a subset of genes were substantially affected by treatment with low dose of YKL-5-124, showing a strong leading-edge enrichment for downregulation of E2F expression program, cell cycle, DNA damage, and MYC targets. We have indeed confirmed a potent reduction in phosphorylation of RB protein, with consequent decrease of E2F activity in MM cells confirmed using E2F-driven luciferase reporter. These data suggest significant role for CDK7 in the CDK-pRB-E2F pathway in MM, which was strengthened by the observation of a positive correlation between expression of CDK7 and expression of E2F target genes in primary MM cells (n=409). Finally, we have evaluated the in vivo effect of CDK7 inhibition in several murine models of human MM. In the localized subcutaneous model, and the disseminated MM model where treatment with YKL-5-124 decreased tumor burden and improved survival. The effect of CDK7 inhibition explored in an aggressive, genetically engineered model of Myc-dependent MM, revealed evidence of response by decline in measurement of monotypic serum immunoglobulins. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that CDK7 contributes to the 'transcriptional addiction' and the cell cycle deregulation frequently observed in MM and represents an attractive molecular vulnerability to be exploited therapeutically. Disclosures Anderson: Millenium-Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sanofi-Aventis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol Myers Squibb: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Oncopep and C4 Therapeutics.: Other: Scientific Founder of Oncopep and C4 Therapeutics.; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Munshi:Takeda: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; AbbVie: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy; Adaptive: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; C4: Current equity holder in private company; OncoPep: Consultancy, Current equity holder in private company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties; BMS: Consultancy. Fulciniti:NIH: Research Funding.

Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) occurs most commonly among the older population, with a median age of 69 years at diagnosis. Advanced age has been shown to negatively affect prognosis and limit treatment options for patients with hematologic malignancies, including MM. Idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel, bb2121), a BCMA-directed CAR T cell therapy, demonstrated deep and durable responses in the pivotal phase 2 KarMMa study of patients with triple-class exposed relapsed and refractory MM (RRMM; Munshi et al. J Clin Oncol. 2020;38[suppl, abstr]:8503). The overall response rate (ORR), complete response (CR) rate, median duration of response (DOR), and median progression-free survival (PFS) were 73%, 33%, 10.7 months, and 8.8 months, respectively, among all 128 patients treated across the target dose levels of 150-450 × 106 CAR+ T cells, and 82%, 39%, 11.3 months, and 12.1 months at the highest target dose of 450 × 106 CAR+ T cells. The safety profile of ide-cel was consistent with the mechanism of action of CAR T cell therapies, with the most common toxicities across all dose levels being cytopenia (97%) and cytokine release syndrome (84%). In the present analyses, the efficacy and safety of ide-cel in elderly patients in the KarMMa study were evaluated. Methods: Patients enrolled in the KarMMa trial (NCT03361748) were required to have ≥3 prior lines of therapy, including an immunomodulatory drug, a proteasome inhibitor, and an anti-CD38 antibody, and were refractory to their last regimen per International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) criteria. Patients received ide-cel at target doses of 150, 300, or 450 × 106 CAR+ T cells after 3 days of lymphodepletion with cyclophosphamide (300 mg/m2/day) and fludarabine (30 mg/m2/day) followed by 2 days of rest. The primary endpoint was ORR, and the key secondary endpoint was CR rate. Additional secondary endpoints included DOR, PFS, and safety. Patients were classified into ≥65 years and ≥70 years subgroups for analysis. Responses were assessed according to IMWG guidelines, and DOR and PFS were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier methods. Results: Of the 128 patients treated with ide-cel, 45 (35%) were aged ≥65 years and 20 (16%) were aged ≥70 years. The median age within these age groups was 69 years (range, 65-78) and 73 years (range, 70-78), the median number of prior antimyeloma regimens was 6 and 5, and the median time since initial diagnosis was 6.7 years and 6.1 years, respectively. Baseline characteristics were generally similar between age groups with the exception of tumor burden. Response rates for both age groups were comparable with those of the overall ide-cel treated population, with ORRs of 84% to 90% and CR rates of 31% to 35% (Table). Likewise, median DOR among responders in both age groups (10.9 months in patients aged ≥65 years and 11.0 months in patients aged ≥70 years) was similar to that of the overall ide-cel treated population. Median PFS was 8.6 months (95% CI, 4.9-12.2) in patients aged ≥65 years and 10.2 months (95% CI, 3.1-12.3) in patients aged ≥70 years. At the time of analysis, overall survival data were still immature. No new safety signals were observed in either of the older age groups compared with those in the overall ide-cel treated population (Table). Conclusions: These results demonstrate deep and durable responses with ide-cel treatment together with a manageable safety profile in triple-class exposed patients with RRMM aged ≥65 years and ≥70 years. Outcomes were comparable with those observed in the overall ide-cel treated population. These data suggest ide-cel is safe and effective in older patients and provide further evidence supporting ide-cel as a promising treatment option in RRMM. Figure 1 Disclosures Berdeja: Karyopharm: Consultancy; Kite Pharma: Consultancy; Cellularity: Research Funding; Acetylon: Research Funding; Genentech, Inc.: Research Funding; Prothena: Consultancy; Teva: Research Funding; Servier: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Lilly: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; EMD Sorono: Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Glenmark: Research Funding; Kesios: Research Funding; Legend: Consultancy; Vivolux: Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; Bioclinica: Consultancy; Bluebird: Research Funding; CURIS: Research Funding; Constellation: Research Funding; CRISPR Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Poseida: Research Funding. Raje:Takeda: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Immuneel: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy; Immuneel: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Caribou: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; bluebird bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy. Siegel:Karyopharma: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Celulatiry: Consultancy. Lin:Gamida Cells: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy; Vineti: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sorrento: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck: Research Funding; Legend BioTech: Consultancy; Juno: Consultancy; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding. Anderson:Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; GSK: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Rodriguez-Otero:Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Oncopeptides: Consultancy, Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria; Kite: Consultancy, Honoraria; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Honoraria; Medscape: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene/Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company). Manier:Amgen: Consultancy, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); Celgene/BMS: Consultancy, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company), Research Funding; Jenssen: Consultancy, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company), Research Funding; GSK: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy. Einsele:Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; GlaxoSmithKline: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Cavo:Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; GlaxoSmithKline: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Karyopharm: Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel accomodations, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel accomodations, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Truppel-Hartmann:bluebird bio, Inc: Current Employment, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); F. Hoffmann La Roche: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Ended employment in the past 24 months. Rowe:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Current Employment. Sanford:BMS: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Wang:Bristol Myers Squibb: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Campbell:BMS: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Jagannath:Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Legend Biotech: Consultancy, Honoraria; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria.

Introduction: Since 2018, immunoenrichment-based matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), termed MASS-FIX, has replaced standard gel-based immunofixation for the detection and isotyping of serum monoclonal proteins at Mayo Clinic. MASS-FIX can readily identify N-glycosylation of involved light chains (LC N-glycosylation) by its unique, polytypic spectral pattern. LC N-glycosylation is identified more commonly in light chain amyloidosis (AL) than other plasma cell disorders (PCDs), and is associated with an increased risk of progression from MGUS to both AL and other PCDs (Dispenzieri et. al. Leukemia 2020). Herein, we report the mass spectral characteristics and distribution of diagnoses among 222 patients with LC N-glycosylation detected during a 20 month period in our clinical lab. Methods: MASS-FIX was performed on patient samples as previously described (Kohlhagen et. al. Clin Chem Lab 2020). Demographics and laboratory data, including quantitative M-spike, serum free light chains (FLC), and quantitative immunoglobulins at the time of MASS-FIX were recorded. For patients with multiple samples during the study period, only the initial MASS-FIX was evaluated. 9195 unique patients had MASS-FIX performed from 7/24/2018 to 03/06/2020. Inclusion criteria for this retrospective study included: 1) consent for record review; 2) a monoclonal protein identified on MASS-FIX; 3) an underlying PCD. Patients were considered to have negative results (2211 in total) on MASS-FIX if: 1) no monoclonal protein was identified (1081, 49%); 2) the interpretation was "cannot rule out monoclonal protein" (945, 43%); 3) multiple, nonspecific spectral peaks were identified consistent with immune reconstitution (29, 1%); or 4) the only monoclonal protein identified was consistent with a therapeutic monoclonal antibody (156, 7%). The final positive cohort consisted of 4118 patients with definitive monoclonal proteins on MASS-FIX. Results: Two-hundred and twenty-two (5%) of the 4118 patients with a positive MASS-FIX had LC N-glycosylation. 202 patients (91%) had FLC assays performed. Of these, 110 (54%) were kappa LC restricted, 22 (11%) were lambda restricted, and 70 (35%) were normal. A quantifiable M-spike was identified in 110 patients (85%) of 129 patients who had serum protein electrophoresis performed. By MASS-FIX, 139 patients (63%) had an IgG isotype, 18 (8%) an IgA, and 55 (25%) an IgM. Two of these patients had a bi-clonal pattern in which both IgG kappa and IgM kappa LCs were N-glycosylated. 12 patients (5%) had monoclonal light chains with no corresponding heavy chain. Overall, 173 (78%) of 222 patients were kappa LC restricted and 44 (22%) were lambda. 189 patients (85%) had a monoclonal pattern, 18 (8%) had a bi-clonal pattern, and 3 (1%) had a tri-clonal pattern. The most common PCD diagnoses for the 222 patients with LC N-glycosylation were MGUS (45%), multiple myeloma (MM) (31%), and immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis (AL) (8%). The percentage of MASS-FIX positive patients with LC N-glycosylation by diagnosis, stratified by kappa and lambda LC restriction, is illustrated in Figure 1. Cold agglutinin disease (CAD) had the highest relative percentage of patients with LC N-glycosylation, regardless of LC restriction. Eighteen AL patients (5%) had LC N-glycosylation; the percentage was higher in kappa restricted (13%) than lambda restricted AL patients (2%). Of note, LC N-glycosylation was not detected in patients with plasma cell leukemia, non-AL amyloidosis with associated MGUS, POEMS Syndrome or Castleman's Disease in this cross sectional sampling of patients. Conclusions: This retrospective study demonstrates that 5% of patients in a routine clinical setting with positive MASS-FIX have glycosylated LCs. Consistent with prior observations, CAD had the highest relative percentage of LC N-glycosylated patients. The percentage of AL patients with LC N-glycosylation in this cohort is lower than previously reported for newly diagnosed AL patients (Kumar et. al. Leukemia 2019), which is not surprising given that the current cohort study is a cross sectional evaluation of patients at various stages of diagnosis and treatment rather than a prevalence study. Further study will be done to exclude the presence of latent AL in patients with N-glycosylated LC and diagnoses of MGUS, SMM, MM, and Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. Disclosures Gertz: Springer Publishing: Patents & Royalties; Proclara: Other; DAVA oncology: Speakers Bureau; Johnson and Johnson: Speakers Bureau; Teva: Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Other; Research to Practice: Other; Celgene: Other; Abbvie: Other; Physicians Education Resource: Other: personal fee; Medscape: Other: personal fee, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Other: personal fee; Appellis: Other: personal fee; Annexon: Other: personal fee; Spectrum: Other: personal fee, Research Funding; Janssen: Other: personal fee; Prothena: Other: personal fee; Alnylam: Other: personal fee; Ionis/Akcea: Other: personal fee; Aurora Bio: Other. Kumar:Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy, Other: Research funding for clinical trials to the institution, Consulting/Advisory Board participation with no personal payments, Research Funding; Carsgen: Other, Research Funding; Genentech/Roche: Other: Research funding for clinical trials to the institution, Consulting/Advisory Board participation with no personal payments; Dr. Reddy's Laboratories: Honoraria; Oncopeptides: Consultancy, Other: Independent Review Committee; IRC member; Merck: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen Oncology: Other: Research funding for clinical trials to the institution, Consulting/Advisory Board participation with no personal payments; Celgene/BMS: Other: Research funding for clinical trials to the institution, Consulting/Advisory Board participation with no personal payments; AbbVie: Other: Research funding for clinical trials to the institution, Consulting/Advisory Board participation with no personal payments; MedImmune: Research Funding; Genecentrix: Consultancy; Tenebio: Other, Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Takeda: Other: Research funding for clinical trials to the institution, Consulting/Advisory Board participation with no personal payments; Sanofi: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Consultancy, Research Funding; Cellectar: Other. Kapoor:Janssen: Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; Takeda: Honoraria, Research Funding; GlaxoSmithKline: Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria; Cellectar: Consultancy. Dingli:Alexion: Consultancy; Karyopharm Therapeutics: Research Funding; Bristol Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy; Sanofi-Genzyme: Consultancy; Apellis: Consultancy; Rigel: Consultancy; Millenium: Consultancy. Lin:Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy; Legend BioTech: Consultancy; Merck: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Gamida Cells: Consultancy; Sorrento: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Vineti: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding. Murray:The Binding Site: Patents & Royalties: Patent Use of Mass Spec to identify monoclonal proteins licensed to The Binding Site. Dispenzieri:Intellia: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; Alnylam: Research Funding.

Introduction: The utility of amyloidosis staging systems has been validated for newly diagnosed patients, but their role in restaging after starting treatment has not been explored. Given the high early mortality in this disease, restaging remote from the diagnosis may have clinical value. We designed this study to evaluate whether the currently used staging systems are prognostic when applied at 3 and 6 months from starting first-line treatment, and whether stage migration impacts survival. Methods: This is a retrospective study including patients with systemic light chain amyloidosis diagnosed between January, 1st 2006 and June, 30th 2019 and were seen in Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN within 90 days of diagnosis; the analysis included 535 and 301 patients who had restaging data available for at least one of the staging systems at 3 and 6 months, respectively. Patients were grouped into 4 stages using the 2015 European modification of the Mayo 2004 staging system based on values of cardiac biomarkers (cardiac troponin T and NTproBNP), and using the Mayo 2012 staging system based on cardiac biomarkers and the difference in serum free light chain concentration (dFLC). Overall survival (OS) was calculated from the time of re-staging until death or last follow up. Results: Using the modified Mayo 2004 staging system at 3 months from starting first-line treatment, median OS was 11.8 [95%CI: 11.4-not reached (NR)], 10.8 (95%CI: 9.4-NR), 4.6 (95%CI: 2.8-6.7), and 1.1 (95%CI: 0.7-2.6) years in patients with stage I, II, IIIa, and IIIb, respectively. Using Mayo 2012 staging at 3 months, OS was 11.8 (95%CI: 10.9-NR), 9.0 (95%CI: 6.2-NR), 5.2 (95%CI: 3.3-6.1), and 0.8 (95%CI: 0.7-1.1) years in patients with stage I, II, III, and IV, respectively (Figure 1a &b). Using the modified Mayo 2004 staging system at 6 months from starting first-line treatment, median OS was NR (95%CI: NR-NR), 9.8 (95%CI: 6.2-NR), 5.4 (95%CI: 3.2-9.0) and 0.9 (95%CI: 0.6-3.7) years in patients with stage I, II, IIIa, and IIIb, respectively. Using Mayo 2012 staging at 6 months, OS was NR (95%CI: 8.4-NR), NR (95%CI: 7.9-NR), 4.6 (95%CI: 3.0-6.5), and 0.9 (95%CI: 0.2-1.8) years in patients with stage I, II, III, and IV, respectively (Figure 1c &d). On multivariate analysis, advanced (stage > 2) modified Mayo 2004 stage (HR: 1.6, P=0.004) and advanced (stage > 2) Mayo 2012 stage (HR: 2.4, P<0.001) at 3 months were associated with decreased survival independent of cardiac response, hematologic response, and transplantation status. Although advanced Mayo 2004 stage at 6 months was associated with decreased survival, it was not statistically significant (HR: 1.5, P=0.09). In contrast, advanced Mayo 2012 stage at 6 months was independently associated with decreased survival (HR: 2.1, P=0.02). For both systems, worsening stage at 3 months or at 6 months was associated with a worse survival than retaining the original stage. In contrast, improving stage as compared to remaining in same stage was not associated with better survival at 3 or 6 months (Table 1). When the analysis was restricted to patients who had an advanced stage at diagnosis, improving stage at 3 months was associated with longer survival compared to retaining the original stage, with both modified Mayo 2004 (10.8 vs. 3.3 years, P<0.001) and Mayo 2012 (8.1 vs. 2.6 years, P<0.001) staging systems. At 6 months, stage improvement was associated with longer survival than retaining the original stage when the modified Mayo 2004 staging system was used (NR vs. 5.0 years, P=0.02), but it was not statistically significant when the Mayo 2012 staging system was used (5.9 vs. 3.7 years, P=0.12). Conclusion: The modified Mayo 2004 and the Mayo 2012 staging systems have independent prognostic value when used for restaging after 3 and 6 months from initiation of first-line treatment. Migration to a higher stage from diagnosis predicts decreased survival, compared to retaining the same stage. Stage improvement is associated with a better OS in patients with advanced stage at diagnosis. Disclosures Dispenzieri: Alnylam, Intellia, Janssen, Takeda, Pfizer, Prothena, Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Kapoor:GlaxoSmithKline: Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria; Amgen: Research Funding; Takeda: Honoraria, Research Funding; Cellectar: Consultancy. Dingli:Rigel: Consultancy; Millenium: Consultancy; Sanofi-Genzyme: Consultancy; Bristol Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Karyopharm Therapeutics: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy; Alexion: Consultancy; Apellis: Consultancy. Lin:Novartis: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sorrento: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gamida Cells: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Legend BioTech: Consultancy; Juno: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Vineti: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding. Gertz:Alnylam: Consultancy; NCI SPORE MM: Research Funding; Ionis/Akcea: Consultancy; Amyloidosis Foundation: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy; Johnson and Johnson: Speakers Bureau; DAVA oncology: Speakers Bureau; Advisory Board for Pharmacyclics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Advisory Board for Proclara: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; i3Health: Consultancy; Springer Publishing: Patents & Royalties; Prothena: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Spectrum: Consultancy, Research Funding; Annexon: Consultancy; Appellis: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Medscape: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Physicians Education Resource: Consultancy; Data Safety Monitoring board from Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; International Waldenstrom Foundation: Research Funding. Kumar:Oncopeptides: Consultancy, Other: Independent Review Committee; IRC member; Genecentrix: Consultancy; Cellectar: Other; Genentech/Roche: Other: Research funding for clinical trials to the institution, Consulting/Advisory Board participation with no personal payments; Celgene/BMS: Other: Research funding for clinical trials to the institution, Consulting/Advisory Board participation with no personal payments; Kite Pharma: Consultancy, Research Funding; MedImmune: Research Funding; Carsgen: Other, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Other: Research funding for clinical trials to the institution, Consulting/Advisory Board participation with no personal payments, Research Funding; Merck: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen Oncology: Other: Research funding for clinical trials to the institution, Consulting/Advisory Board participation with no personal payments; Takeda: Other: Research funding for clinical trials to the institution, Consulting/Advisory Board participation with no personal payments; Karyopharm: Consultancy; AbbVie: Other: Research funding for clinical trials to the institution, Consulting/Advisory Board participation with no personal payments; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy; Tenebio: Other, Research Funding; Dr. Reddy's Laboratories: Honoraria; Sanofi: Research Funding.

Background: Real world multi-institutional data of anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy from across the US shows similar response rates and toxicities as that of the registration trials. For axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel), bridging therapy (BT) during CAR-T manufacturing was not allowed. Real world data shows that patients who received BT had lower complete remission (CR) rates, duraiton of response (DOR) and overall survival (OS). Whether the poorer outcome is due to the effect of the BT or the aggressive biology of the disease is unknown. Patients with lower disease burden had higher response rate in the registration study ZUMA-1 for axi-cel. We examined the impact of response to BT on CAR-T outcome. Specifically, we also describe our experience using polatuzumab vedotin, bendamustine and rituximab (Pola-BR), also a recently approved therapy for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), prior to CAR-T as salvage (ST) and BT. Methods: A retrospective review of 63 patients who received axi-cel for NHL from June 2016 - March 2020 at Mayo Clinic, Rochester was performed. ST was defined as the last therapy prior to leukapheresis and grouped into categories - autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT), and non-ASCT (chemotherapy and immunotherapy) . BT was defined as lymphoma-directed therapy given between leukapheresis and CAR-T infusion. Response to all lymphoma-directed therapy was evaluated using 2014 Lugano criteria. Event free survival (EFS) was defined as time from axi-cel infusion to progression, next treatment, or death. Overall survival (OS) was defined as time from axi-cel infusion to death. Results: Patients received BT if there were concerns for symptomatic progression of disease during CAR-T manufacturing that would reduce the likelihood of eligibility to receive CAR-T. The decision and choice of BT was at the discretion of the treating physician. Sixty-eight percent (n=43) of the patients received BT (19 chemo, 24 immunotherapy). Demographics of the patients based on their response to BT are shown in table 1. More patients in the BT responder group had received chemotherapy as type of bridge (58% vs. 33%). With a median follow up of 12-months for those still alive, significant improvement in EFS was seen in patients who had partial response (PR) or stable disease (SD) to BT than patients who continued to progress (median 12 months vs. 3 months, p = 0.01) [Figure 1A]. OS however, was not significant between the two groups (median OS 18 months - responders vs. 12 months non-responders, p = 0.19) [Figure 1B]. We also describe in the case series below 11 patients who received Pola-BR in salvage setting (ST) and/or BT (Table 2). Due to the lymphopenic effects of bendamustine, it was avoided before T-cell collection if possible. Two patients, however, received bendamustine as part of Pola-BR for salvage therapy as its need was determined per the managing physician. Axi-cel was successfully manufactured for all 10 patients. One patient did not have measurable disease after Pola-BR BT and remains on observation. A second patient died before CAR-T infusion from progressive disease. Four of the nine patients treated with CAR-T remained in response. Updated outcome will be presented. Conclusion: While patients who received BT have worse EFS than those who didn't, having some control of lymphoma after BT was associated with better EFS compared to patients who continued to have progressive disease after BT. Preliminary data from Pola-BR case series shows 60% (6/10) patients achieved PR/SD before CAR-T infusion, but requires longer follow up for its impact on survival. Disclosures Bennani: Purdue Pharma: Other: Advisory Board; Kite/Gilead: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; Verastem: Other: Advisory Board. Ansell:AI Therapeutics: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; Regeneron: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Bristol Myers Squibb: Research Funding; ADC Therapeutics: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding. Lin:Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy; Legend BioTech: Consultancy; Merck: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Gamida Cells: Consultancy; Sorrento: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Vineti: Consultancy.

Background: Axi-cel is an autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy approved for the treatment of patients (pts) with relapsed/refractory large B cell lymphoma (LBCL) with ≥ 2 prior systemic therapies. ZUMA-1 is the multicenter, single-arm, registrational Phase 1/2 study of axi-cel in pts with refractory LBCL. In a 2-year analysis of ZUMA-1 (median follow-up, 27.1 months; N=101), axi-cel demonstrated objective response, complete response (CR), and ongoing response rates of 83%, 58%, and 39%, respectively (Locke et al. Lancet Oncol. 2019). Here, we present additional survival follow up and recovery of normal, polyclonal B cells from ongoing responders in ZUMA-1. Methods: Eligible pts with refractory large B cell lymphoma (diffuse large B cell lymphoma, primary mediastinal B cell lymphoma, transformed follicular lymphoma) underwent leukapheresis at enrollment and subsequently received low-dose conditioning chemotherapy (fludarabine and cyclophosphamide) followed by a target dose of 2 × 106 anti-CD19 CAR T cells/kg (Neelapu et al. NEJM. 2017; NCT02348216). The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR), and the first response assessment was 4 weeks post infusion. Response assessments were performed per protocol up to 24 months or disease progression, whichever occurred first. For pts in ongoing response beyond Month 24, response assessments continued per institutional standard-of-care (SOC). Blood levels of CAR T cells were quantified using polymerase chain reaction and B cells were characterized using flow cytometry in pts with ongoing responses and evaluable samples. Results: A total of 111 pts were enrolled, and axi-cel was administered to 101 pts. As previously reported in the ZUMA-1 2-year analysis, among pts who received axi-cel, the median time from axi-cel infusion to both objective response and CR was 1.0 month (range, 1 - 12 months; Locke et al. Lancet Oncol 2019). When the entire enrolled population (N = 111) was included on an intent-to-treat basis, the median manufacturing time was 17 days (range, 14 - 51; n = 110 as manufacturing was not feasible for 1 pt). Additionally, among the 111 pts, the median time from enrollment/leukapheresis to objective response and CR was 1.7 months (range, 0.7 - 12.9) and 1.9 months (range, 0.7 - 13.3), respectively. Responses have been durable, and with a minimum of 3 years of follow-up (median, 39.1 months), the median overall survival (OS) was 25.8 months, and the 3-year OS rate was 47%. Importantly, no axi-cel-related secondary malignancies have been reported. As previously reported, pts in ongoing response after 2 years had significantly greater peak CAR T cell expansion in blood 7 - 14 days after axi-cel infusion than did those with relapse (P = 0.014) or no response (P = 0.0003; Locke et al. Lancet Oncol 2019). Blood samples from 22 pts in ongoing response (per institutional SOC) at ≥ 3 years were available for analysis of CAR T cells and evaluation of B cell recovery. All evaluable pts had detectable B cells in blood at 3 years post axi-cel. Notably, 91% of pts in ongoing response at 3-year follow-up demonstrated recovery of polyclonal B cells measured by presence of both kappa and lambda light chains on non-malignant CD19+CD20+ B cells. The median kappa-lambda ratio of 1.6 and relative levels of key B cell subsets, including memory and naive B cell immunophenotypes, suggested reconstitution of B cell repertoire, consistent with published data from healthy individuals (Deneys et al. J Immunol Methods 2001; Scott et al. J Clin Pathol 2018). Additionally, 15/22 (68%) had both minimal levels of detectable CAR gene-marked cells and detectable polyclonal B cells in blood. Altogether, these findings support the hypothesis that persistence of functional CAR T cells is not necessary for durable remissions of LBCL. Overall survival and translational findings with ≥ 4 years of follow-up will be presented. Conclusions: Axi-cel produced rapid responses and longterm disease control in pts with refractory LBCL. Most responses occurred by the first assessment, and the brief time elapsed between enrollment and response supports both the speed and success of manufacturing. Furthermore, axi-cel-treated pts with ongoing responses at ≥ 3 years showed evidence of restoration of a normal B cell compartment and clearance of functional CAR T cells, a critical component of the long-term safety of CD19-directed CAR T cell therapies. Disclosures Locke: Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding; Wugen: Consultancy; Calibr: Consultancy; Allogene: Consultancy; Cellular Biomedicine Group: Other: Consultancy with grant options; GammaDelta Therapeutics: Consultancy; Celgene/Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy. Ghobadi:Celegene: Consultancy; Wugen: Consultancy; Atara: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; EUSA: Consultancy. Miklos:Novartis: Consultancy, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Allogene Therapeutics Inc.: Research Funding; Juno-Celgene-Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Other: Travel support; Miltenyi Biotec: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Other: Travel support, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Adaptive Biotech: Consultancy, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Kite-Gilead: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel support, Research Funding. Oluwole:Pfizer: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Spectrum Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Bayer: Consultancy. Lin:Legend BioTech: Consultancy; Juno: Consultancy; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding; Gamida Cells: Consultancy; Sorrento: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Vineti: Consultancy. Hill:Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; AstraZenica: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Beigene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Genentech: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Timmerman:Merck: Research Funding; Corvus: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Marker Therapeutics: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Immune Design: Honoraria; Celldex Therapeutics: Consultancy; BMS: Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Spectrum Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Genmab: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Valor: Research Funding. Deol:Novartis: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy. Reagan:Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy; Curis: Consultancy; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding. Stiff:Kite, a Gilead Company: Research Funding; Delta-Fly: Research Funding; Gamida Cell: Research Funding; Atara: Research Funding; Unum: Research Funding; Macrogenics: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding. Flinn:Celgene: Research Funding; TG Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Trillium Therapeutics: Research Funding; Curio Science: Consultancy; Merck: Research Funding; Constellation Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; BeiGene: Consultancy, Research Funding; ArQule: Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Consultancy, Research Funding; Genentech, Inc.: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding; Calithera Biosciences: Research Funding; Agios: Research Funding; Karyopharm Therapeutics: Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Research Funding; Forty Seven: Research Funding; Forma Therapeutics: Research Funding; Loxo: Research Funding; F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics LLC, an AbbVie Company: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; MorphoSys: Consultancy, Research Funding; Rhizen Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Yingli Pharmaceuticals ≠: Consultancy, Research Funding; Johnson & Johnson: Other; Roche: Consultancy, Research Funding; Vincera Pharma: Consultancy; Gilead Sciences: Consultancy, Research Funding; AbbVie: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Iksuda Therapeutics: Consultancy; Great Point Partners: Consultancy; Curis: Research Funding; Nurix Therapeutics: Consultancy; Portola Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Acerta Pharma: Research Funding; Juno Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Unum Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Infinity Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; IGM Biosciences: Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding; Teva: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Triphase Research & Development Corp.: Research Funding; Verastem: Consultancy, Research Funding. Farooq:Kite, a Gilead Company: Honoraria. Goy:COTA: Consultancy, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: leadership role; Karyopharm: Research Funding; Genentech/Roche: Research Funding; Constellation: Research Funding; Bayer: Research Funding; CALBG: Research Funding; PracticeUpdate Oncology: Consultancy; RCCA/OMI: Current Employment; Acerta: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: leadership role, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: leadership role, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Hackensack UMC and University of Nebraska: Research Funding; Infinity: Research Funding; Xcenda: Consultancy; Infinity Verastem: Research Funding; Morphosys: Research Funding; AbbVie: Research Funding; MD Anderson: Research Funding; Regional Cancer Care Associates/OMI: Current Employment; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Honoraria, Other: leadership role, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: leadership role, Research Funding. McSweeney:Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Colorado Blood Cancer Institute: Current Employment; Fred Hutchinson: Patents & Royalties. Munoz:Juno/Celgene/BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Alexion: Consultancy; Beigene: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Fosunkite: Consultancy; Innovent: Consultancy; Acrotech/Aurobindo: Speakers Bureau; Kyowa: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Consultancy; Verastem: Speakers Bureau; AstraZeneca: Speakers Bureau; Genentech/Roche: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Merck: Research Funding; Portola: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Millenium: Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Bayer: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Siddiqi:Oncternal: Research Funding; TG Therapeutics: Research Funding; Janssen: Speakers Bureau; Seattle Genetics: Speakers Bureau; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; BeiGene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding. Rossi:Gilead Sciences: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Kite, a Gilead Company: Current Employment. Bot:Kite, a Gilead Company: Current Employment; Gilead Sciences: Consultancy, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: Travel support . Zheng:Kite, a Gilead Company: Current Employment; Gilead Sciences: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Vezan:Merck: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Abbvie: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Kite, a Gilead Company: Current Employment, Honoraria, Other: Travel support. Bashir:Kite, a Gilead Company: Current Employment; OmniacPharmConsult Ltd: Current Employment, Current equity holder in private company. Kim:Kite, a Gilead Company: Current Employment; Gilead Sciences: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Chu:Kite, a Gilead Company: Current Employment; Gilead Sciences: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Amgen: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Celgene: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Neelapu:N/A: Other; Takeda Pharmaceuticals: Patents & Royalties; Acerta: Research Funding; Karus Therapeutics: Research Funding; Cellectis: Research Funding; Poseida: Research Funding; Unum Therapeutics: Other, Research Funding; Calibr: Other; Kite, a Gilead Company: Other: personal fees, Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Other: personal fees, Research Funding; Merck: Other: personal fees, Research Funding; Novartis: Other: personal fees; Celgene: Other: personal fees, Research Funding; Pfizer: Other: personal fees; Allogene Therapeutics: Other: personal fees, Research Funding; Adicet Bio: Other; Legend Biotech: Other; Precision Biosciences: Other: personal fees, Research Funding; Incyte: Other: personal fees; Cell Medica/Kuur: Other: personal fees.

Background: Ide-cel, a BCMA-directed CAR T cell therapy, showed tolerability and promising efficacy in patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) in the first-in-human phase 1 CRB-401 study (Raje et al. N Engl J Med. 2019;380:1726) and the pivotal phase 2 KarMMa study (Munshi et al. J Clin Oncol. 2020;38[suppl, abstr]:8503). Ide-cel demonstrated a favorable benefit-risk profile with an overall response rate (ORR) of 85%, a complete response (CR) rate of 45%, and a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 11.8 months in the first 33 patients treated in CRB-401. Reported here are updated safety and efficacy results for 62 patients who received ide-cel in the ongoing CRB-401 study. Methods: CRB-401 (NCT02658929) is a 2-part, phase 1 dose-escalation and -expansion study. The expansion phase enrolled patients who had received ≥3 prior lines of therapy, including a proteasome inhibitor, an immunomodulatory drug, and an anti-CD38 antibody, and were refractory to their last line of therapy. Eligibility criteria for the dose-escalation phase were described previously (Raje et al. N Engl J Med. 2019;380:1726). After lymphodepletion with fludarabine (30 mg/m2/day) and cyclophosphamide (300 mg/m2/day) for 3 days followed by 2 days of rest, patients received ide-cel at target doses of 50, 150, 450, or 800 × 106 CAR+ T cells in the dose-escalation phase and 150 to 450 × 106 CAR+ T cells in the dose-expansion phase. The primary endpoint was safety. Secondary endpoints included tumor response according to the International Myeloma Working Group criteria. Exploratory endpoints included PFS, overall survival (OS), and minimal residual disease (MRD). Results: As of January 14, 2020, 21 patients had received ide-cel in the dose-escalation phase, and 41 patients received ide-cel in the dose-expansion phase. The median age was 61 years, and 44% of patients had high tumor burden (≥50% bone marrow CD138+ plasma cells). Of the 62 patients, 45% received >6 prior regimens, 90% were daratumumab-exposed, and 77% were daratumumab-refractory. As of the cutoff date, 13 patients were ongoing, and 49 patients had discontinued the study. Reasons for study discontinuation were progressive disease (58%), withdrawal by patients (10%), and death (10%). Based on safety and efficacy in the dose-escalation phase, target dose levels of 150 to 450 × 106 CAR+ T cells were selected for the dose-expansion phase. The most frequent adverse events (AEs) were neutropenia (92%), cytokine release syndrome (CRS; 76%), anemia (76%), and thrombocytopenia (74%). The most frequent grade 3/4 AEs were neutropenia (89%), leukopenia (61%), anemia (57%), and thrombocytopenia (57%). Most CRS events were grade 1 or 2 (Table). Four patients (7%) had grade 3 CRS; there were no grade >3 CRS events. The incidence of CRS generally increased with target dose level. Neurologic toxicity (NT; clustered term) occurred in 27 patients (44%) and was primarily grade 1/2 with 1 patient having grade 3 and 1 patient having grade 4 NT. Among all 62 patients in the dose-escalation and -expansion phases, the ORR was 76%, including 24 patients (39%) with a CR or better and 40 patients (65%) with a very good partial response or better. The median duration of response was 10.3 months. Of 37 responders evaluable for MRD, 30 were MRD negative (≤10−4 nucleated cells) at 1 or more time point, and 7 responders were MRD positive. With a median follow-up of 14.7 months for all patients in the dose-escalation and dose-expansion phases, median PFS was 8.8 months and median OS was 34.2 months. Overall, a dose-dependent effect was observed on responses and survival outcomes, with greater efficacy reported at ≥150 × 106 CAR+ T cells (Table). Conclusions: Ide-cel demonstrated deep and durable responses in heavily-pretreated RRMM patients. Efficacy and safety reflect prior reports and support a favorable clinical benefit-risk profile for ide-cel at target dose levels ≥150 × 106 CAR+ T cells. Table Disclosures Lin: Novartis: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Vineti: Consultancy; Sorrento: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gamida Cells: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Legend BioTech: Consultancy; Juno: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding. Raje:Caribou: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Consultancy; Bluebird, Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy; Immuneel: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Astrazeneca: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy. Berdeja:Abbvie: Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Vivolux: Research Funding; Genentech, Inc.: Research Funding; Bluebird: Research Funding; Lilly: Research Funding; Constellation: Research Funding; Glenmark: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Legend: Consultancy; Novartis: Research Funding; Poseida: Research Funding; Prothena: Consultancy; Teva: Research Funding; Servier: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bioclinica: Consultancy; EMD Sorono: Research Funding; Acetylon: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Cellularity: Research Funding; Kesios: Research Funding; CURIS: Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Consultancy; CRISPR Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding. Siegel:Karyopharma: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Celulatiry: Consultancy. Jagannath:Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria; Legend Biotech: Consultancy, Honoraria; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria. Madduri:Legend: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Speaking Engagement, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Kinevant: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Speaking Engagement, Speakers Bureau; Foundation Medicine: Consultancy, Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; GSK: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Speaking Engagement, Speakers Bureau. Liedtke:Pfizer: Honoraria; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GSK: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Caelum: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Adaptive: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Rosenblatt:Celgene: Research Funding. Maus:arcellx: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Research Funding; kite: Consultancy, Research Funding. Massaro:bluebird, bio: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Petrocca:bluebird, bio: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Caia:Celgene a BMS company: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Yang:Bristol Myers Squibb: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Celgene: Ended employment in the past 24 months. Campbell:BMS: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Hege:Bristol Myers Squibb: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company), Patents & Royalties: numerous, Research Funding; Celgene (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb): Ended employment in the past 24 months; Mersana Therapeutics: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Arcus Biosciences (Former Board of Directors): Divested equity in a private or publicly-traded company in the past 24 months. Munshi:BMS: Consultancy; OncoPep: Consultancy, Current equity holder in private company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties; AbbVie: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Adaptive: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; C4: Current equity holder in private company; Amgen: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy. Kochenderfer:Celgene: Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; bluebird, bio: Patents & Royalties; Kite, a Gilead company: Patents & Royalties, Research Funding.

Introduction: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy directed against B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) has shown promising results for the treatment of relapsed refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). bb21217 is an anti-BCMA CAR T cell therapy that uses the same CAR molecule as idecabtagene vicleucel (bb2121), but adds the PI3K inhibitor bb007 during ex vivo culture to enrich the drug product (DP) for memory-like T cells, thereby reducing the proportion of highly differentiated or senescent T cells. To investigate whether DP properties correlate with clinical outcomes including duration of response (DOR), we conducted extensive molecular characterization of patient DPs. Methods: CRB-402 (NCT03274219) is an ongoing, multi-center phase 1 dose escalation trial of bb21217 in RRMM patients who received ≥3 prior regimens, including proteasome inhibitor and immunomodulatory agent, or are double-refractory to both classes. In the expansion cohort, patients additionally required prior exposure to an anti-CD38 antibody and were required to be refractory to last line. Planned enrollment is 74 patients, including 50 in the expansion cohort. Patients undergo lymphodepletion with fludarabine (30 mg/m2) and cyclophosphamide (300 mg/m2) daily for 3 days, then receive a single infusion of bb21217 at 150, 300 or 450 x 106 CAR+ T cells. The primary outcome measure is incidence of adverse events (AEs), including dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs). Additional outcome measures include overall response rate and DOR by IMWG Uniform Response Criteria. We profiled DP and apheresis starting material (PBMC) by RNAseq and cyTOF and correlated expression of memory/senescence markers from apheresis to DP with clinical outcomes, including DOR. Results: Asof March 1, 2020, 46 patients (median age 62 [33-74]) received bb21217, 24 in escalation (12 at 150, 6 at 300 and 6 at 450) and 22 in expansion (8 at 300 and 14 at 450); median follow up for all patients is 8.5 (<1-29) months. Patients had a median of 6 (3-17) prior lines of therapy with 26/46 (57%) triple refractory. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) developed in 31/46 (67%) patients and included one death (14 G1, 15 G2, 1 G3 and 1 G5). Median time to first onset was 3 days (1-20); tocilizumab (18 pts) +/- corticosteroids (6 pts) was used to manage CRS. Ten (22%) patients developed neurotoxicity [5 G1, 2 G2, 2 G3, 1 G4] with median time to first onset of 7 (3-24) days. Response was assessed per investigator for 44 patients with ≥ 2 months of follow up or PD/death within 2 months. Twenty-four (55%) patients had confirmed response per IMWG criteria including 8 (18%) with ≥CR and 13 (30%) with VGPR. Median time to CR was 2.5 (1-24) months. The median DOR was 11.9 (95% CI: 8.1-17.0) months across target dose levels of 150-450 x106 CAR+ T cells. The 450 target dose was selected as the RP2D and dose expansion is ongoing. bb21217 DPs from 44 patients were characterized. Paired analysis of T cells from PBMC and DP showed bb21217 DP is significantly enriched for memory-like T cells (LEF1+, CD27+, CCR7+) and depleted of highly differentiated or senescent CD57+ T cells. Patients with DPs most enriched for early memory markers (LEF1+, CCR7+ and CD27+) and with low expression of effector/exhaustion markers (EOMES+, GZMA+, CD57+) were more likely to have higher peak CAR+ T cell expansion. To evaluate the association of these DP markers with DOR, we split the 24 responders (≥PR) on median marker expression (high vs low) and analyzed DOR in these exploratory subgroups. High CD127 expression, associated with long-lasting memory T cell formation, was positively correlated with DOR, while multiple markers associated with differentiated T cells (e.g. EOMES+, TBET+) were negatively correlated with DOR. Conclusions: The adverse events observed are consistent with known toxicities of CAR T cell therapies. Initial efficacy results with bb21217 are encouraging, with 48% of patients treated across target dose levels of 150-450 obtaining ≥VGPR. The presence of T cell markers associated with memory and the absence of T cells markers associated with differentiation/senescence in DP correlated positively with peak expansion and DOR. These preliminary correlative data support the mechanistic hypothesis that enrichment for memory like T cells in bb21217 DP may result in improved clinical outcomes. Data for approximately 14 additional patients at the 450 target dose will be presented. Disclosures Alsina: Janssen: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding. Shah:GSK, Amgen, Indapta Therapeutics, Sanofi, BMS, CareDx, Kite, Karyopharm: Consultancy; BMS, Janssen, Bluebird Bio, Sutro Biopharma, Teneobio, Poseida, Nektar: Research Funding. Raje:Janssen: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Immuneel: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Caribou: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Consultancy; Astrazeneca: Consultancy; Bluebird, Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy. Jagannath:Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria; Legend Biotech: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria. Madduri:Janssen: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; GSK: Consultancy; Kinevant: Consultancy; Foundation Medicine: Consultancy. Kaufman:Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pharmacyclics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Tecnopharma: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy; TG Therapeutics: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Incyte: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sanofi/Genyzme: Consultancy, Honoraria. Siegel:Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Karyopharma: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celulatiry: Consultancy. Munshi:BMS: Consultancy; OncoPep: Consultancy, Current equity holder in private company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties; C4: Current equity holder in private company; Janssen: Consultancy; Adaptive: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; AbbVie: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy. Lin:Novartis: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy; Legend BioTech: Consultancy; Merck: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Gamida Cells: Consultancy; Sorrento: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Vineti: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding. Jakubowiak:AbbVie, Amgen, BMS/Celgene, GSK, Janssen, Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Adaptive, Juno: Consultancy, Honoraria. Timm:bluebird bio: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Turka:bluebird bio: Current Employment. Mao:bluebird bio: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Martin:BMS: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Campbell:BMS: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Hege:Arcus Biosciences: Divested equity in a private or publicly-traded company in the past 24 months; Mersana Therapeutics: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: Travel, accommodations, expenses, Patents & Royalties: Numerous, Research Funding. Bitter:Novartis AG, Predicant Biosciences, Biospect, F Hofmann-La Roche: Ended employment in the past 24 months; bluebird bio: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Novartis: Ended employment in the past 24 months, Patents & Royalties. Petrocca:bluebird, bio: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Berdeja:Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Cellularity: Research Funding; Constellation: Research Funding; CRISPR Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; CURIS: Research Funding; EMD Sorono: Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding; Servier: Consultancy; Teva: Research Funding; Prothena: Consultancy; Poseida: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Lilly: Research Funding; Legend: Consultancy; Kite Pharma: Consultancy; Kesios: Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Glenmark: Research Funding; Genentech, Inc.: Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bioclinica: Consultancy; Bluebird: Research Funding; Acetylon: Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; Vivolux: Research Funding.

Background: Assessment of heterogeneity in meta-analyses is critical to ensure the consistency of pooled results. Therefore, we sought to assess the evaluation and reporting of heterogeneity in heart failure (HF) meta-analyses. Methods: Study level meta-analyses pertaining to HF were selected from January 2009 to July 2019, published in 11 high impact factor journals. We tabulated the overall proportion of the meta-analyses reporting statistical heterogeneity and specific metrics and methods employed to quantify and explore heterogeneity. Results: Of 126 HF meta-analyses (612 outcomes), heterogeneity was reported for 422 outcomes (68.9 %) in 108 meta-analyses. Out of the 422 outcomes reporting statistical heterogeneity, 137 outcomes (32.5%) had no observable heterogeneity: ( I 2 =0%), 40 outcomes (9.5%) had low heterogeneity ( I 2 <25%), 76 outcomes (18%) had moderate heterogeneity ( I 2 =25%–50%), and 169 outcomes (40%) had high heterogeneity ( I 2 >50%). Reporting of statistical heterogeneity was not significantly associated with year of publication, funding source, disclosure information, or the type of studies pooled. Sensitivity analysis (n=68) was the most common statistical technique employed to evaluate the source of heterogeneity followed by subgroup analyses (n=59) and meta-regression (n=40). Conclusions: Despite being an essential component of meta-analyses, heterogeneity was not reported for nearly 30% of outcomes and variably handled in contemporary HF meta-analyses. As meta-analyses increase across HF science, interpreting and handling of heterogeneity should be standardized.