RWE in Multiple Myeloma | Real-World Evidence

While both provide distinct value on their own, jointly assessing data from RWE studies and RCTs helps provide a comprehensive understanding of treatment effectiveness and safety and ultimately, better informed prescribing decisions. Looking at RWE in combination with RCT data can be particularly helpful in uncovering key evidence around how multiple myeloma patients respond to their treatments and how these treatments impact their day-to-day lives. RWE is complex, and as with RCT data, understanding the utility and limitations of RWE study results is critical to proper application of these understandings to the goal of improving patient care for those battling multiple myeloma.

RCTs remain the gold standard for evaluating a treatment’s safety and efficacy in highly-selected patient populations, while observational studies provide insights into treatment effectiveness in heterogenous patient populations. ³ While the strict inclusion and exclusion criteria of RCTs allows researchers to measure the efficacy of an intervention without the interference of external factors, ^4-5 RWE has the ability to bridge the gaps inherent to the highly structured nature that exists within RCTs.

Additional RWE benefits include:

• Broader Patient Inclusion Criteria: Approximately 25% to 73% of people living with multiple myeloma are ineligible for RCTs for reasons such as advanced age, frailty, comorbidities, organ dysfunction and lack of accessibility – factors that are often characteristic of the typical myeloma patient. ^2-3,6-13 The freedom to enroll a broader patient population for RWE studies – not just those who are healthy or local enough to participate in RCTs – allows for the generation of more data, including critical information for frail and unfit patients excluded from RCTs

• Patient-Focused Findings: By eliminating the rigorous protocol-driven RCT management, RWE allows research to capture the reality of how a treatment can impact patients’ everyday lives. RWE findings thus allow patients to be involved in their treatment and provide direct insights

• Timely Results: RWE studies can be completed relatively promptly for broad patient populations, which allows its complementary data to be available within a shorter timeline compared to RCTs, further providing valuable insights into optimizing individualized patient care

Despite its many benefits, RWE is still often misunderstood and can be incorrectly viewed as unreliable. Though real-world studies are becoming more commonly relied upon by healthcare decision-makers, questions remain regarding the validity of RWE, with many citing a lack of a centralized, standard methodology. Although these concerns are understandable, it’s important to note that both the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have recently developed guidance for RWE in an effort to validate the importance of these studies and provide additional structure for their implementation. ^14-15

It is important to understand that not all RWE is created equal. The term encompasses a variety of different data sources and study design types, each of which can be used to answer different research questions and possess different advantages and disadvantages.

RWE studies are typically observational studies, including cross-sectional, prospective and retrospective cohort study designs. All three of these types of studies provide value in understanding treatment effectiveness and other patient outcomes, and it is important to design the study appropriately to address research questions of interest. Real-world studies can tell different parts of the story by drawing on a variety of existing data sources, such as product and disease registries, insurance claims databases and EHRs.

While cross-sectional, prospective or retrospective study designs are most commonly used, these categories don’t necessarily capture designs of real-world studies but represent those that are commonly used. Through its many forms, RWE provides an extensive resource of information and can be used in conjunction with what is learned through RCTs to tell the full story of a patient’s treatment experience and help optimize and individualize patient care.

As with any form of growth or change, adjusting to a healthcare landscape that uses RWE in decision making will not be a simple, nor a linear process. We all must work together to find ways to effectively incorporate this information to facilitate drug development and optimize treatment selection for patients. We must continue to innovate, acknowledging the challenges with RWE but also understanding the benefits it provides by highlighting important aspects of patient care that may be difficult to address and thus are commonly not captured in the context of RCTs.

As we work with our peers and colleagues in the industry to align on a common understanding of the opportunities and challenges RWE presents, we think of the nearly 450,000 people around the world currently living with multiple myeloma and are reminded that there are patients who still have critical treatment needs. ¹⁷ RWE allows us to continue to improve care for all patients within the multiple myeloma space, particularly the many whose personal journeys are not addressed by RCTs. We invite you to join us in embracing new methods of understanding the patient story as we continue to discover new ways to provide transformative solutions for multiple myeloma patients.