PERSEUS
Adding daratumumab to the standard three-drug induction and to maintenance cut the risk of progression by more than half in transplant-eligible myeloma.
48-month PFS 84.3% vs 67.7% (HR 0.42); MRD negativity (10⁻⁵) 75% vs 48%; sustained MRD-negativity ≥12 months 64.8% vs 29.7%. Approved July 2024. Dara discontinued after sustained MRD negativity in the experimental arm (MRD-guided de-escalation embedded).
Setting
Newly diagnosed transplant-eligible myeloma: Dara-VRd induction/consolidation + DR maintenance vs VRd + R
Phase
Phase 3
Sponsor
EMN / Janssen
Registry
Headline result
PFS HR 0.42; 48-month PFS 84.3% vs 67.7%.
Reported
2023
Enrolled
709
Replication
Consistent with GRIFFIN (phase 2) and with CASSIOPEIA (Dara-VTd); Isa-VRd in IsKia and IMROZ show the same class effect.
In plain words
What these results mean for people, not percentages
Progression-free survival at 48 monthsprimarysurrogate endpoint
- 84.3 vs 67.7 out of 100 alive without the cancer growing at 48 months with Dara-VRd compared with VRd; 16.6 more per 100.
- Roughly one extra person helped for every 6 treated. That is a rough figure taken from the two percentages, not a guarantee for any one person.
- Put another way, the treated group had about 58 percent lower chance of the event at any given time (hazard ratio 0.42, likely range 0.3 to 0.59).
MRD negativity (10⁻⁵)surrogate endpoint
- 75.2 vs 47.5 out of 100 had no detectable disease on sensitive tests with Dara-VRd compared with VRd; 27.7 more per 100.
- Roughly one extra person helped for every 4 treated. That is a rough figure taken from the two percentages, not a guarantee for any one person.
Be careful
- This is a surrogate endpoint: it measures the cancer being controlled or absent on scans and tests, which often, but not always, translates into living longer.
- These results apply to the people the trial enrolled: Newly diagnosed transplant-eligible myeloma: Dara-VRd induction/consolidation + DR maintenance vs VRd + R. People in a different situation may not see the same effect.
Numbers are from the trial as recorded here; see the source links in the table below. This is orientation, not medical advice: ask your team how closely the trial population matches you.
709 participants enrolled.
Progression-free survival at 48 monthsprimary
HR 0.42 (0.3–0.59) · p <0.0001
Dara-VRd84.3 of 100
n = 355
VRd67.7 of 100
n = 354
MRD negativity (10⁻⁵)
Dara-VRd75.2 of 100
VRd47.5 of 100
| Endpoint | Arm | n | Value | HR (95% CI) | p | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progression-free survival at 48 monthsprimary | Dara-VRd | 355 | 84.3% | 0.42 (0.3–0.59) | <0.0001 | link |
| VRd | 354 | 67.7% | ||||
| MRD negativity (10⁻⁵) | Dara-VRd | — | 75.2% | — | — | — |
| VRd | — | 47.5% |
Replication
Consistent with GRIFFIN (phase 2) and with CASSIOPEIA (Dara-VTd); Isa-VRd in IsKia and IMROZ show the same class effect.