What to Watch at IMS 2026: Defining Cure as Multitargeting, CELMoDs, and In Vivo CAR T Move Forward

The 23rd International Myeloma Society (IMS) Annual Meeting & Exposition, taking place September 23-26, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland, will showcase a number of key trials in the newly diagnosed and relapsed settings, including new bispecific antibodies, cereblon E3 ligase modulators (CELMoDs), and multitargeting combinations. Notably, it will devote much of its scientific program to a question that has taken hold in the myeloma community over the past year: how close has multiple myeloma (MM) come to being a curable disease?

An IMS/International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) Consensus Update session titled “Defining Cure in Multiple Myeloma” opens the meeting’s substantive science on day 1, with a presentation and Q&A session led by Nikhil Munshi, MD. Industry-supported symposia pick up variations on the same theme over the following days, including sessions titled “Are We Ready to Say ‘Cure’ in Multiple Myeloma,” “Leave No Cell Behind: The Quest for Cure in Multiple Myeloma,” and “The Red Thread in Multiple Myeloma: Moving Towards Cure.” Long-term follow-up data, careful interpretation of prognostic biomarkers, and late-breaking phase 3 data are all contributing toward answering the question in their own way.

Late-Breaking Data Anchor the Friday Plenary Session

Six abstracts are slated for presentation at the Friday plenary session, co-chaired by Faith Davies, MD, and Saad Usmani, MD, several of which carry phase 3 or first-in-human status.

The phase 3 CERVINO trial (NCT06158841) will report on favorable efficacy and safety for etentamig (ABBV-383), an investigational B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed bispecific antibody, vs investigator’s choice of standard therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory MM (RRMM) and triple-class exposure. In an interview with Targeted Oncology^TM, the presenter Peter Voorhees, MD, noted that “based on the favorable CRS [cytokine release syndrome] and ICANS [immune effector cell–associated neurotoxicity syndrome] signal with the single step-up dose, and the fact that you're able to dose this every 4 weeks right from the beginning, this lends itself well to use in community practices.”

Iberdomide (Zenbexus), a CELMoD, has already received accelerated FDA approvalbased on minimal residual disease-negative complete response rate in the phase 3 EXCALIBER-RRMM trial (NCT04975997), but only now are the results that convinced the FDA being presented to the public. Sagar Lonial, MD, will report the first data from this trial of iberdomide, daratumumab (Darzalex) and dexamethasone (IberDd) against daratumumab, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (DVd) in RRMM, formally ushering in the era of a new class of myeloma therapies.

Heng Mei, MD, will present first-in-human data on an in vivo-generated CD19/BCMA dual-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in RRMM, a genuinely new-modality entry to the myeloma space. In vivo therapies which can avoid the leukapheresis process can greatly improve the deliverability of T-cell therapies.

Long-term follow-up from the phase 3 PERSEUS trial (NCT03710603) will be presented by Pieter Sonneveld, MD, PhD, comparing daratumumab plus bortezomib (Velcade), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and dexamethasone (DVRd) against VRd alone in transplant-eligible newly diagnosed MM (NDMM). The extended follow-up from the study that supported quadruplet induction in transplant-eligible disease is positioned to speak to durability of intensified early therapy.

MRD-Guided Strategies Push Toward Treatment De-Escalation

A key thread running through the meeting concerns using minimal residual disease (MRD) status not just to intensify treatment, but to safely pull back on it. The phase 2 MILESTONE study (NCT04991103), presented by Susan Bal, MD, examines MRD-adapted deferral of autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) in newly diagnosed patients. The GEM2014MAIN trial, presented by David Moreno, MD, reports long-term results of discontinuing maintenance therapy guided by MRD status. The CASSIOPEIA (NCT02541383) registry, presented by Jill Corre, PharmD, PhD, will report 5-year sustained MRD negativity and survival outcomes with daratumumab maintenance in transplant-eligible NDMM. These findings position MRD negativity as a decision point for stopping therapy.

A Wider Field of Bispecific, Trispecific, and Next-Generation CAR-T Constructs

The program includes a substantial volume of early-phase data on mechanisms distinct from the BCMA bispecifics and CAR T products already in practice. New trispecific T-cell engagers include ABBV-2001/ISB 2001, which targets BCMA, CD38, and CD3; and IBI3003, which targets GPRC5D, BCMA, and CD3 simultaneously. Another BCMA/CD38/CD3 trispecific, ramantamig (JNJ-5322) will report updated safety and efficacy at its recommended phase 2 dose, with a specific focus on outpatient dosing feasibility. Dual-antigen CAR T constructs include BMS-986453 and RD140, both targeting BCMA and GPRC5D together, and a GPRC5D×CD3 bispecific, QLS32015, will report updated first-in-human phase 1a/1b data.

In addition to the plenary session, in vivo CAR T presentations include first-in-human data from an intravenously administered, in vivo-generated BCMA CAR T product, IASO206, and clinical translational data on LV169, a CD3-targeted lentiviral vector for generating BCMA CAR T cells inside the body.

Multiple abstracts related to the phase 3 MajesTEC-3 trial, which led to the approval of teclistamab (Tecvayli) plus daratumumab earlier this year, will report on a mixture cure model for functional cure, a post hoc analysis vs daratumumb-based triplets, and a real-world study of a comparable population in the US.

Earlier Intervention in Smoldering Myeloma Gets a Fuller Airing

Smoldering MM (SMM) has its own cluster of new data this year, reflecting a broader push toward earlier intervention. Updated safety and efficacy results from the phase 2 LINKER-SMM1 trial (NCT05955508), evaluating linvoseltamab (Lynozyfic) in high-risk SMM, will be presented by Paula Rodriguez-Otero, MD. Long-term follow-up from the phase 2 EMN15/HOVON147 trial, comparing carfilzomib (Kyprolis), lenalidomide, and dexamethasone against lenalidomide-dexamethasone in high-risk SMM, will be presented by Dirk van Esser, MD.

Debate Contrasts Novel Immunotherapy Modalities

A Saturday debate session, cochaired by Sundar Jagannath, MD, and Vincent Rajkumar, MD, will pit CAR T-cell therapy (argued by Simon Harrison, MD), T-cell engagers (Andrew Yee, MD), and antibody-drug conjugates (Evangelos Terpos, MD, PhD) against one another as preferred modalities in RRMM as these 3 approaches, each with unique clinical and practical advantages and disadvantages, are rapidly gaining ground in multiple treatment settings vs traditional myeloma therapies.

The presentations, posters, and discussions will spur further research, collaboration, and clinical applications as the fight against multiple myeloma continues. “It's going to be an incredibly exciting meeting, and what we're going to be seeing at this meeting are going to be game-changers for patients, which is truly wonderful. It's a great time to be treating multiple myeloma in this era,” Voorhees told Targeted Oncology.

REFERENCE

Daily Program Schedule. International Myeloma Society 23^rd Annual Meeting & Exposition. September 23-26, 2026. Glasgow, Scotland.