June 2 (Reuters) - GSK's multiple myeloma drug

Blenrep nearly halved the risk of disease progression or death

compared to standard-of-care treatments for the incurable blood

cancer, according to data from a late-stage study presented at a

medical meeting on Sunday.

In the trial of 302 patients with relapsed or

difficult-to-treat multiple myeloma, 71% of those who received

Blenrep in combination with the steroid dexamethasone and

pomalidomide were alive without their disease worsening at the

end of a year.

That compared with progression-free survival (PFS) of 51% of

those who were treated with pomalidomide, dexamethasone and

bortezomib. Pomalidomide is a generic version of Bristol Myers

Squibb's ( BMY ) Pomalyst, while bortezomib is the generic of

Takeda Pharmaceuticals' Velcade.

"The ability to be able to offer a drug like Blenrep

potentially that is administered on an outpatient basis, does

not require hospitalization, can be available in a community

setting and is not restricted by manufacturing challenges, like

cell therapies, is really important," GSK oncology executive

Hesham Abdullah said in an interview.

Detailed data from the trial was presented at the American

Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago on Sunday.

Blenrep has had setbacks over the last couple of years,

including being pulled from the lucrative U.S. market in 2022

after it failed to show superiority over an existing treatment

in a separate late-stage study.

The top-line data from this trial released in March showing

it had met the main goal of significantly improving PFS over a

current standard treatment regimen appeared to signal a comeback

for the drug.

More than half of the Blenrep patients were alive without

disease progression after a median follow-up of 21.8 months

compared with 12.7 months PFS for the standard of care, the

company said.

"The PFS benefit seen in the trial shows the potential of

the Blenrep combo, if approved, to redefine the treatment of

multiple myeloma for these patients," GSK said in a statement.

The British drugmaker plans to file marketing applications

with global regulators in the second half of 2024.

Treatments for multiple myeloma include Johnson & Johnson's ( JNJ )

Darzalex and other generic cancer drugs. The U.S. FDA in

April approved two cell therapies - J&J's Carvykti, and Bristol

Myers' Abecma - as earlier lines of treatment in less severe

multiple myeloma.

Eye-related side effects led to a 9% treatment

discontinuation rate from the study but were generally

reversible and manageable through dose modifications, GSK said.

Multiple myeloma, the world's second-most common blood

cancer, starts in plasma cells in bone marrow and ultimately

disrupts production of normal blood cells.

Roughly 35,780 new multiple myeloma cases are likely to be

diagnosed, with 12,540 deaths expected to occur in the United

States this year, according to the American Cancer Society.