Earlier Intervention Reshapes The Multiple Myeloma Treatment Continuum As Advanced Therapy Options Expand, According To Spherix Global Insights

(MENAFN- GlobeNewsWire - Nasdaq) Eight in ten physicians now view high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma as clinically actionable, while patient fitness and preservation of future options shape treatment decisions after relapse.

Exton, PA, Sept. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The multiple myeloma (MM) treatment continuum is expanding in both directions as physicians increasingly consider intervention before symptomatic disease develops, while navigating a growing array of advanced therapies after relapse. New research from Spherix Global Insights finds that 80% of physicians now view high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma (HR-SMM) as an earlier clinically actionable stage of MM, while treatment decisions in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) increasingly require physicians to weigh patient fitness, quality of life, and eligibility for future advanced therapies. The findings draw on two complementary Spherix studies spanning the MM continuum. Patient Chart DynamixTM: Multiple Myeloma (US) provides a patient-level view based on 314 charts collected from 106 U.S. hematologists/oncologists and medical oncologists between February and April 2026, while Special TopixTM: Smoldering Multiple Myeloma (US) captures the perspectives of 66 U.S. hematologists/oncologists and medical oncologists surveyed in July 2026. Together, the studies point to a treatment paradigm in which physicians have more opportunities to intervene but must increasingly consider how decisions made at one stage of disease may affect the treatment journey that follows.

High-Risk Smoldering Multiple Myeloma Emerges as an Actionable Treatment Stage

The shift toward earlier intervention is already evident in HR-SMM. Eighty percent of physicians agree that HR-SMM represents an earlier clinically actionable stage of MM, and 71% expect future treatment algorithms to routinely incorporate HR-SMM treatment. Importantly, this shift is not only prospective: 59% report that their approach to HR-SMM has already changed during the past year, including through more frequent monitoring, enhanced risk stratification, earlier treatment, and increased daratumumab use.

The availability of Johnson & Johnson's Darzalex Faspro (daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj) is beginning to reshape management of HR-SMM. More than half of physicians in the Special TopixTM study have personally prescribed Darzalex Faspro monotherapy for HR-SMM, and its share among pharmacologically treated HR-SMM patients is projected to notably increase within six months. Despite this early momentum, physicians continue to weigh whether the benefits of intervention justify initiating therapy in patients who may face a long subsequent MM treatment journey.

Academic and Community Physicians Diverge on the Evidence Needed for Earlier Treatment

Growing acceptance of earlier intervention does not, however, translate into consensus on when HR-SMM should be treated or what evidence should drive broader adoption. Academic physicians appear further along the early-intervention curve: 67% typically consider early treatment for select HR-SMM patients compared with 50% of community physicians, while community physicians are more likely to favor observation until progression. Differences are even more pronounced around the evidentiary threshold for treatment: 83% of community physicians believe an overall survival benefit should be required before widespread HR-SMM treatment adoption compared with 56% of academic physicians.

Advanced Therapies Expand Options and Complexity After Relapse

At the other end of the MM continuum, greater therapeutic choice is creating a different challenge: determining how to optimize treatment today without compromising options tomorrow. Among patients with RRMM, 68% had progressed or relapsed within the previous 12 months, and physicians identify balancing treatment efficacy with quality of life as the most common challenge in managing MM.

Frailty and comorbidities further constrain treatment choices. Nearly nine in ten physicians indicate that frailty is at least moderately influential in treatment decisions, and approximately one-quarter of RRMM patients are excluded from CAR T-cell therapy because of comorbidities or frailty.

At the same time, physician confidence in using advanced treatment modalities is growing. Nearly two-thirds of physicians surveyed through Patient Chart DynamixTM report being extremely comfortable using advanced therapies earlier in the treatment journey, with CAR T-cell therapies and bispecific antibodies increasingly considered alongside more established MM treatment classes. Greater choice, however, places more emphasis on sequencing: physicians must consider not only which therapy is appropriate for a patient today, but how that decision may affect eligibility and options at subsequent lines of treatment.

Innovation Raises the Stakes for Long-Term Treatment Planning

Continued innovation could make these interconnected treatment decisions even more consequential. Within HR-SMM, physicians participating in Special TopixTM prioritize curative-intent strategies, clearer treatment guidelines, and improved risk stratification as key areas of future need, with DETER-SMM and CAR-PRISM among the investigational approaches generating the greatest interest. Meanwhile, continued innovation in active MM is broadening the therapeutic arsenal available following progression.

For manufacturers, success may increasingly depend on demonstrating more than efficacy within an individual line of treatment. As the MM treatment journey lengthens, differentiation will also require a clear role within an increasingly interconnected treatment sequence-from establishing which patients warrant intervention in HR-SMM to demonstrating how advanced therapies can be optimally positioned after relapse without unnecessarily limiting future options.

Spherix's multiple myeloma research portfolio provides complementary perspectives on this evolving market. Patient Chart DynamixTM: Multiple Myeloma (US) examines real-world patient characteristics, treatment patterns, sequencing, disease progression, comorbidities, quality of life, and advanced therapy eligibility across the MM continuum, while Special TopixTM: Smoldering Multiple Myeloma (US) explores physician approaches to risk stratification, treatment initiation, current HR-SMM management, Darzalex Faspro adoption, and the emerging pipeline.

About Patient Chart DynamixTM

Patient Chart DynamixTM is an independent, data-driven service unveiling real patient management patterns through rigorous analysis of large-scale patient chart audits. Insights reveal the“why” behind treatment decisions, include year over year trending to quantify key aspects of market evolution, and integrate specialists' attitudinal & demographic data to highlight differences between stated and actual treatment patterns.

About Special TopixTM

Special TopixTM is an independent service that includes access to a report or series of reports based on current events or topics of interest in specialty markets covered by Spherix.

About Spherix Global Insights

Spherix Global Insights is a leading independent provider of market intelligence and advisory services for specialty pharmaceutical and biotech markets. By combining physician, patient, and payer perspectives into a single integrated view, Spherix helps brand teams, market access stakeholders, and investors understand how a specialty market actually behaves, not how any one stakeholder describes it. The firm operates ten dedicated therapeutic franchises – Cardiovascular Kidney Metabolic Disease (CKM), Dermatology, Gastroenterology, Hematology, Nephrology, Neuroscience, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Respiratory and Rheumatology – alongside a fully dedicated Market Access team. Each franchise is led by hyper-focused analysts and researchers who track these specialty areas full-time, drawing on independently curated communities of vetted practicing specialists, KOLs, patients recruited through treating physicians and advocacy partners, and medical and pharmacy directors at commercial and government payers. Spherix delivers quarterly trending, launch tracking, chart audits, KOL synthesis, patient experience research, and payer and market access intelligence that support confident, strategic decision-making across the pharma lifecycle. Trusted by 19 of the top 20 pharmaceutical and biotech organizations, Spherix has been a go-to resource for more than a decade for leading brands, market access stakeholders, industry media outlets, financial analysts, professional organizations, and patient advocacy groups seeking an unbiased, holistic view of specialty markets.

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CONTACT: Sarah Hendry Spherix Global Insights 484-879-4284...

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