October 16, 2025
UPDATE
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The combination of teclistamab-cqyv (Tecvayli) and daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj (subcutaneous daratumumab; Darzalex Faspro) demonstrated an improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) compared with subcutaneous daratumumab plus pomalidomide and dexamethasone (DPd) or subcutaneous daratumumab plus bortezomib and dexamethasone (DVd) in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who received 1 to 3 prior lines of therapy, according to topline data from the phase 3 MajesTEC-3 trial (NCT05083169).1
Additionally, the safety profile of teclistamab with daratumumab was consistent with the known safety profiles of each agent as monotherapy. Full results from the phase 3 study are expected to be presented at an upcoming medical meeting and submitted to global health authorities for review.
“[Teclistamab] is the most utilized BCMA[-targeted] bispecific [antibody] in later lines of myeloma treatment, supported by extensive clinical and real-world evidence. These results [from MajesTEC-3] demonstrate the clinical benefits of teclistamab in earlier lines when used in combination, as evidenced by meaningful PFS and OS outcomes,” Maria-Victoria Mateos, MD, PhD, a consultant physician in Hematology at the University Hospital of Salamanca, stated in a news release. ” [Teclistamab and subcutaneous daratumumab] uniquely work together to target both BCMA and CD38 simultaneously, priming and activating the immune system and eliminating myeloma cells.”
In October 2022,
The phase 3 MajesTEC-3 trial was a randomized, open-label study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of teclistamab plus subcutaneous daratumumab compared with DPd or DVd in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.3
Eligible patients were required to have a confirmed diagnosis of multiple myeloma after 1 to 3 prior lines of therapy that included a proteasome inhibitor (PI) and lenalidomide (Revlimid). Those who received only 1 prior line of therapy needed to be refractory to lenalidomide. Other key inclusion criteria comprised evidence of progressive disease, an ECOG performance status of 0 to 2, and adequate laboratory values.
Participants were randomly assigned to receive either teclistamab/daratumumab or investigator’s choice of DPd or DVd. In the experimental arm, step-up doses of teclistamab were administered prior to the first full dose.
Along with the primary end point of PFS and key secondary end point of OS, other secondary end points included overall response rate, very good partial response or better rate, complete response or better rate, minimal residual disease–negativity rate, time to second disease progression, PFS on next line of therapy, time to next treatment, duration of response, and safety.
“The MajesTEC-3 study results of [teclistamab and daratumumab], two of our most important agents, demonstrate Johnson & Johnson’s leadership in developing regimens with complementary and synergistic mechanisms of action for patients with multiple myeloma. We are confident this combination is poised to be a new standard of care option,” Yusri Elsayed, MD, MHSc, PhD, global therapeutic area head of Oncology at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, added in a news release.1 “The increase in PFS and OS is another example of how our portfolio is fundamentally transforming how patients with multiple myeloma are treated.”
A few months ago, I was invited to get a full-body scan in east London. Neko Health is one of several diagnostic clinics that, for a price, uses electrocardiograms, blood tests and a talking skin-scanner to examine you. The company claims it can…
When Chinese AI startup DeepSeek became a global sensation in January, it not only shocked Silicon Valley but also startled ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. The Chinese tech giant had already launched Doubao, its own flagship AI assistant app with tens of millions of users. But when DeepSeek became the best-known Chinese AI company overnight, no one was talking about Doubao anymore.
Now, ByteDance has gotten its revenge. By August, Doubao regained the throne as the most popular AI app in China with over 157 million monthly active users, according to QuestMobile, a Chinese data intelligence provider. DeepSeek, with 143 million monthly active users, slipped to second place. The same month, venture capital firm a16z also ranked Doubao as the fourth-most-popular generative AI app globally, just behind the likes of ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
Doubao, which launched in 2023, was deliberately designed to be personable. Unlike most popular AI chatbots, Doubao’s app icon features a human-looking avatar—a female cartoon character with a short bob that greets people when they open the app for the first time. The name Doubao literally translates to “steamed bun with bean paste,” mimicking “the nickname a user would give to an intimate friend,” ByteDance vice president Alex Zhu said in a public speech in 2024.
Compared to Western AI apps, “there’s a warmer, more welcoming feel,” says Dermot McGrath, a Shanghai-based investor and technologist. “ChatGPT, for example, feels like a tool you open to complete a task and then close again. Doubao has more features and a more colorful user interface that keeps you interested longer.”
Doubao offers users a little bit of everything—it’s like ChatGPT, Midjourney, Sora, Character.ai, TikTok, Perplexity, Copilot, and more in a single app. It can chat via text, audio, and video; it can generate images, spreadsheets, decks, podcasts, and five-second videos; it allows anyone to customize an AI agent for specific scenarios and host it on Doubao’s platform for others to use. One of the most important things about the app, however, is that it’s deeply integrated with Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, allowing it to both attract users from the video platform and send traffic back to it.
Somehow, ByteDance’s ambitiously sprawling strategy for Doubao has turned out to be exactly what Chinese users wanted. A little over two years since its launch, Doubao has quietly become the AI app that Chinese people—particularly those who aren’t very AI savvy—are actually using. But it has almost no name recognition in the West.
“It’s marketed at people who are not the most technologically informed, people who may prefer voice chat and video interaction over text,” says Irene Zhang, a researcher at ChinaTalk, a newsletter about Chinese tech. “Some of the earliest Doubao users I heard of were my friends’ grandmothers and aunties.”
Kap’s cafe was shot at in Surrey, Canada, on October 16, 2025. File
| Photo Credit: AP
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