Elotuzumab
Also sold as: Empliciti
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These drugs share a pharmacologic classification but are NOT interchangeable. Listing here does not imply clinical equivalence. A physician must evaluate each drug individually for the patient's specific condition.
Classification: Antibodies, Monoclonal (source: RxClass/NLM)
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Drug Information
Mechanism of Action
12.1 Mechanism of Action Elotuzumab is a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody that specifically targets the SLAMF7 (Signaling Lymphocytic Activation Molecule Family member 7) protein. SLAMF7 is expressed on myeloma cells independent of cytogenetic abnormalities. SLAMF7 is also expressed on Natural Killer (NK) cells, plasma cells, and at lower levels on specific immune cell subsets of differentiated cells within the hematopoietic lineage. Elotuzumab directly activates NK cells through the SLAMF7 pathway. Elotuzumab also targets SLAMF7 on myeloma cells and interacts with Fc receptors on effector cells to mediate the killing of myeloma cells through antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP). In nonclinical models, the combination of elotuzumab and lenalidomide resulted in enhanced activation of NK cells that was greater than the effects of either agent alone and increased anti-tumor activity in vitro and in vivo. Elotuzumab has also demonstrated increased anti-tumor activity when combined with pomalidomide in vivo.
Indications & Uses
1 INDICATIONS AND USAGE • EMPLICITI is indicated in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received one to three prior therapies. • EMPLICITI is indicated in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies including lenalidomide and a proteasome inhibitor. EMPLICITI is a SLAMF7-directed immunostimulatory antibody indicated in • combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received one to three prior therapies. (1) • combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies including lenalidomide and a proteasome inhibitor. (1)
Dosage & Administration
2 DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION • With lenalidomide and dexamethasone: 10 mg/kg administered intravenously every week for the first two cycles and every 2 weeks thereafter until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. (2.1) • With pomalidomide and dexamethasone: 10 mg/kg administered intravenously every week for the first two cycles and 20 mg/kg every 4 weeks thereafter until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. (2.2) • Premedicate with dexamethasone, diphenhydramine, ranitidine and acetaminophen. (2.3) 2.1 Recommended Dosing when EMPLICITI Is Used in Combination with Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone The recommended dosage of EMPLICITI is 10 mg/kg administered intravenously every week for the first two cycles (28-day cycle) and every 2 weeks thereafter in conjunction with the recommended dosing of lenalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone as described below. Continue treatment until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Refer to the dexamethasone and lenalidomide prescribing information for additional information. Administer premedications before each dose of EMPLICITI [see Dosage and Administration (2.3) and Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] . Administer dexamethasone as follows: • On days that EMPLICITI is administered, give dexamethasone 28 mg orally between 3 and 24 hours before EMPLICITI plus 8 mg intravenously between 45 and 90 minutes before EMPLICITI. • On days that EMPLICITI is not administered but a dose of dexamethasone is scheduled (Days 8 and 22 of cycle 3 and all subsequent cycles), give 40 mg orally. The recommended dosing is presented in Table 1. Table 1: Recommended Dosing Schedule of EMPLICITI in Combination with Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone Cycle 28-Day Cycles 1 and 2 28-Day Cycles 3+ * Premedicate with the following 45 to 90 minutes prior to EMPLICITI infusion: 8 mg intravenous dexamethasone, H1 blocker: diphenhydramine (25 to 50 mg orally or intravenously) or equivalent; H2 blocker: ranitidine (50 mg intravenously) or equivalent; acetaminophen (650 to 1000 mg orally). † Oral dexamethasone (28 mg) taken between 3 and 24 hours before EMPLICITI infusion. ** Intravenous dexamethasone 45-90 minutes before EMPLICITI infusion. Day of Cycle 1 8 15 22 1 8 15 22 Premedication* ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ EMPLICITI (mg/kg) intravenously 10 10 10 10 10 10 Lenalidomide (25 mg) orally Days 1-21 Days 1-21 Dexamethasone † (mg) orally 28 28 28 28 28 40 28 40 Dexamethasone** (mg) intravenously 8 8 8 8 8 8 Day of Cycle 1 8 15 22 1 8 15 22 2.2 Recommended Dosing when EMPLICITI Is Used in Combination with Pomalidomide and Dexamethasone The recommended dosage of EMPLICITI is 10 mg/kg administered intravenously every week for the first two cycles (28-day cycle). Starting at cycle 3 (28-day cycle), administer EMPLICITI 20 mg/kg intravenously every 4 weeks. Administer EMPLICITI in conjunction with pomalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone as described below (Table 2). Continue treatment until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Refer to the dexamethasone and pomalidomide prescribing information for additional information. Administer premedications before each dose of EMPLICITI [see Dosage and Administration (2.3) and Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] . Administer dexamethasone as follows: • On days that EMPLICITI is administered, for patients 75 years or younger give dexamethasone 28 mg orally between 3 and 24 hours before EMPLICITI plus 8 mg intravenously between 45 and 90 minutes before EMPLICITI and for patients older than 75 years give dexamethasone 8 mg orally between 3 and 24 hours before EMPLICITI plus 8 mg intravenously between 45 and 90 minutes before EMPLICITI. • On days that EMPLICITI is not administered but a dose of dexamethasone is scheduled (Days 8, 15 and 22 of cycle 3 and all subsequent cycles), give 40 mg orally to patients 75 years or younger and 20 mg orally to patients older than 75 years. The recommended dosing is presented in Table 2. Table 2: Recommended Dosing Schedule of EMPLICITI in Combination with Pomalidomide and Dexamethasone Cycle 28-Day Cycles 1 and 2 28-Day Cycles 3+ * Premedicate with the following 45 to 90 minutes prior to EMPLICITI infusion: 8 mg intravenous dexamethasone, H1 blocker: diphenhydramine (25 to 50 mg orally or intravenously) or equivalent; H2 blocker: ranitidine (50 mg intravenously) or equivalent; acetaminophen (650 to 1000 mg orally). † Oral dexamethasone taken between 3 and 24 hours before EMPLICITI infusion. ** Intravenous dexamethasone 45-90 minutes before EMPLICITI infusion. Day of Cycle 1 8 15 22 1 8 15 22 Premedication* ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ EMPLICITI (mg/kg) intravenously 10 10 10 10 20 Pomalidomide (4 mg) orally Days 1-21 Days 1-21 Dexamethasone† (mg) orally ≤75 years old 28 28 28 28 28 40 40 40 Dexamethasone† (mg) orally >75 years old 8 8 8 8 8 20 20 20 Dexamethasone** (mg) intravenously 8 8 8 8 8 2.3 Premedication Dexamethasone When EMPLICITI is used in combination with lenalidomide or pomalidomide and dexamethasone, divide dexamethasone into an oral and
Side Effects (Adverse Reactions)
6 ADVERSE REACTIONS The following clinically significant adverse reactions are described in detail in other sections of the label: • Infusion reaction [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] . • Infections [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] . • Second Primary Malignancies [ see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ] . • Hepatotoxicity [see Warnings and Precautions (5.4) ] . • Interference with determination of complete response [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5) ] . Most common adverse reactions (20% or higher) • with lenalidomide and dexamethasone are fatigue, diarrhea, pyrexia, constipation, cough, peripheral neuropathy, nasopharyngitis, upper respiratory tract infection, decreased appetite, pneumonia. (6.1) • with pomalidomide and dexamethasone are constipation and hyperglycemia. (6.1) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Bristol-Myers Squibb at 1-800-721-5072 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. EMPLICITI in Combination with Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone [ELOQUENT-2] The safety data described in this section are based on the ELOQUENT-2 study, a randomized, open-label clinical trial in patients with previously treated multiple myeloma. In ELOQUENT-2, EMPLICITI 10 mg/kg was administered with lenalidomide and dexamethasone [see Clinical Studies (14) ] . For adverse reaction evaluation, EMPLICITI combined with lenalidomide and dexamethasone was compared with lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone. The mean age of the population was 66 years and 57% of patients were 65 years of age or older. Sixty percent (60%) of the population were male, 84% were white, 10% were Asian, and 4% were black. The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status was 0 in 47%, 1 in 44%, and 2 in 9% of patients. These data reflect exposure of 318 patients to EMPLICITI and 317 to control with a median number of cycles of 19 for EMPLICITI and 14 for control. Serious adverse reactions were reported in 65% of patients treated on the EMPLICITI arm and 57% for patients treated on the control arm. The most frequent serious adverse reactions in the EMPLICITI arm compared to the control arm were: pneumonia (15% vs. 11%), pyrexia (7% vs. 5%), respiratory tract infection (3.1% vs. 1.3%), anemia (2.8% vs. 1.9%), pulmonary embolism (3.1% vs. 2.5%), and acute renal failure (2.5% vs. 1.9%). The proportion of patients who discontinued any component of the treatment regimen due to adverse reactions as listed below was similar for both treatment arms; 6.0% for patients treated on the EMPLICITI arm and 6.3% for patients treated on the control. Adverse reactions occurring at a frequency of 10% or higher in the EMPLICITI arm and 5% or higher than the lenalidomide and dexamethasone arm for the randomized trial in multiple myeloma are presented in Table 6. Table 6: ELOQUENT-2: Adverse Reactions with a 10% or Higher Incidence for EMPLICITI-Treated Patients and a 5% or Higher Incidence than Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone-Treated Patients [All Grades] EMPLICITI + Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone N=318 Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone N=317 Primary Term All Grades Grade 3/4 All Grades Grade 3/4 * The term fatigue is a grouping of the following terms: fatigue and asthenia. † The term cough is a grouping of the following terms: cough, productive cough, and upper airway cough. ‡ The term peripheral neuropathy is a grouping of the following terms: peripheral neuropathy, axonal neuropathy, peripheral motor neuropathy, peripheral sensory neuropathy, and polyneuropathy. § The term pneumonia is a grouping of the following terms: pneumonia, atypical pneumonia, bronchopneumonia, lobar pneumonia, bacterial pneumonia, fungal pneumonia, pneumonia influenza, and pneumococcal pneumonia. Fatigue* 62 13 52 12 Diarrhea 47 5.0 36 4.1 Pyrexia 37 2.5 25 2.8 Constipation 36 1.3 27 0.3 Cough † 34 0.3 19 0 Peripheral Neuropathy ‡ 27 3.8 21 2.2 Nasopharyngitis 25 0 19 0 Upper Respiratory Tract Infection 23 0.6 17 1.3 Decreased Appetite 21 1.6 13 1.3 Pneumonia § 20 14 14 9 Pain in Extremities 16 0.9 10 0.3 Headache 15 0.3 8 0.3 Vomiting 14 0.3 9 0.9 Weight Decreased 14 1.3 6 0 Lymphopenia 13 9 7 3.2 Cataracts 12 6 6 2.8 Oropharyngeal Pain 10 0 4 0 Laboratory abnormalities worsening from baseline and occurring at a frequency of 10% or higher in the EMPLICITI group and 5% or higher than the lenalidomide and dexamethasone group (criteria met for all Grades or Grade 3/4) for ELOQUENT-2 are presented in Table 7. Table 7: ELOQUENT-2: Laboratory Abnormalities Worsening from Baseline and with a 10% or Higher Incidence for EMPLICITI-Treated Patients and a 5% Higher Incidence than Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone-Treated Patients [Criteria met for All Grades or Grade 3/4] EMPLICI
Drug Interactions
7 DRUG INTERACTIONS 7.1 Drug Interactions For important drug interactions involving lenalidomide, pomalidomide and dexamethasone, refer to their respective prescribing information. 7.2 Laboratory Test Interference EMPLICITI may be detected in the SPEP and serum immunofixation assays of myeloma patients and could interfere with correct response classification. A small peak in the early gamma region on SPEP that is IgGƙ on serum immunofixation may potentially be attributed to EMPLICITI, particularly in patients whose endogenous myeloma protein is IgA, IgM, IgD, or lambda light chain restricted. This interference can impact the determination of complete response and possibly relapse from complete response in patients with IgG kappa myeloma protein [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5) ].
Contraindications
4 CONTRAINDICATIONS None. None (4)
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Data sourced from RxNorm (NLM/NIH), FDA Orange Book, OpenFDA, DailyMed. Last updated: 2026-03-02.