Hello, my name is Marc Hoffmann. I'm the director of the Lymphoma Department at the University of Kansas. It's my pleasure to be here today to present some of the data we just shared at ASH 2025.
The first abstract I’ll discuss is a new drug called sonrotoclax. Some of you may be familiar with venetoclax, which is a BCL2 inhibitor. These drugs work by allowing cancer cells to undergo their natural process of cell death, which is often blocked by abnormal signaling in the cells.
In this study, there were multiple cohorts, representing different ways sonrotoclax was combined in patients who had never received therapy for CLL. The cohort I presented combined sonrotoclax with obinutuzumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against CD20. Obinutuzumab pairs well with venetoclax, and long-term data from the CLL14 study showed that a one-year course—including six months of IV therapy and one year of oral therapy—produced long-lasting remissions in many therapy-naive patients.
Sonrotoclax differs slightly from venetoclax. It is more potent, has a shorter half-life, and is anticipated to both work better and have fewer toxicities. While this is still being investigated, this study represented the first step in exploring its potential.
The results were very promising. Among 25 patients in this cohort, two experienced Richter transformation, but all other patients responded to treatment. Importantly, patients achieved very deep remissions. Using minimal residual disease (MRD) assessment, all evaluable patients—excluding the two with Richter syndrome—achieved undetectable MRD, meaning fewer than one cancer cell per 10,000. Many were even below one cancer cell per 1,000,000.
While these are preliminary results in a smaller group, they are highly encouraging. The next step is to test this combination in larger phase 3 studies, comparing it against standard-of-care treatments to determine the optimal approach.
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HealthTree • December 27, 2025