Subcutaneous daratumumab (DARA SC) plus lenalidomide versus lenalidomide alone as maintenance therapy in patients (pts) with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) who are minimal residual disease (MRD) positive after frontline autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT): The phase 3 AURIGA study.

Abstract

Background: DARA, a human anti-CD38 IgGκ monoclonal antibody, is approved in many countries as monotherapy in relapsed/refractory MM (RRMM) and in combination with standard of care (SoC) in RRMM and NDMM. However, no clinical studies have yet compared DARA maintenance versus SoC maintenance. The ongoing phase 3 AURIGA study will evaluate the addition of DARA to lenalidomide maintenance among pts with NDMM who are MRD positive after SoC induction and ASCT. The primary endpoint is the conversion rate to MRD negativity after 1 year of maintenance therapy. Methods: This openlabel, multi center, randomized phase 3 study will enroll approximately 214 pts in the United States aged 18-79 years with NDMM who receive ≥4 cycles of induction followed by ASCT. Pts must enroll within 6 months of ASCT, be naïve for anti-CD38 treatment, have a very good partial response or better per IMWG criteria, and be MRD positive at a threshold of 10-5 by next generation sequencing (NGS) within 30 days of screening. Pts will be stratified by cytogenetic risk (high vs standard/unknown) and randomized 1:1 to 28-day cycles of lenalidomide maintenance (10 mg PO;D1-28 [dose increasing to 15 mg if tolerated]) ± DARA SC (DARA 1,800 mg co-formulated with recombinant human hyaluronidase PH20 [rHuPH20;2,000 U/mL;ENHANZE®drug delivery technology, Halozyme, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA;QW Cycle 1-2, Q2W Cycles 3-6, Q4W C7+). Treatment will continue for up to 36 cycles or until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or patient withdrawal. The primary endpoint is MRD conversion rate after 12months of maintenance treatment, defined as the proportion of pts who achieve MRD negativity (10-5) by NGS. Additional MRD assessments occur after 18, 24, and 36 months of maintenance. While MRD negativity is associated with improved long-term outcomes for pts with MM and is an emerging, validated prognostic factor, this study is among the first to use MRD negativity as a primary study endpoint. Importantly, MRD negativity allows for earlier efficacy assessment than traditional endpoints such as progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints include overall MRD conversion rate at any time, sustained MRD negativity lasting ≥12 months, PFS, OS, response rates, duration of complete response, changes in health-related quality of life, and safety. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this study has been amended to improve enrollment access by allowing up to 12 months from start of induction therapy to ASCT to mitigate against ASCT delays and to allow greater flexibility for screening and laboratory assessments.