What are bispecific antibodies and how do they work?

Bispecific antibodies are a drug class used to treat many cancers, including multiple myeloma, that fall within the immunotherapy treatment category. Immunotherapies aim to stimulate your own immune system to recognize and fight myeloma cells. 

Imagine that the bispecific antibody has two “arms”. One of these arms attaches to the myeloma cell by binding to a specific target. The target changes for each disease and depends on the manufacturer of the drug. The preferred targets on the myeloma cell include BCMA, GPRC5D, or FcRH5. 

The second arm binds to CD3, a target found in T cells, an important type of white blood cell. When the bispecific antibody is attached to both the T cell and the myeloma cell, it brings them within close proximity of each other, making the myeloma cell more susceptible to your immune system and allowing your immune system to recognize and attack the myeloma cell.