ASH 2025: Interpreting Rapid Change Across Hematology

Returning from the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting in Orlando, one message was clear: hematology is entering a phase of rapid diversification. Across late-breaking abstracts, plenary sessions, and maturing follow-up data, ASH 2025 reflected a field advancing on multiple fronts at once: new therapeutic classes, earlier-line use of novel agents, evolving views on treatment duration, and growing attention to how therapies perform outside of highly controlled settings.

With more than 30,000 attendees and thousands of abstracts, the meeting offered a broad snapshot of where hematology research is headed and how quickly standards of care may evolve during active development programs. Given the breadth of science presented, no single summary can capture every important development discussed at this year’s meeting.

These observations are informed by insights from Veristat’s Vice President of Global Medical Affairs, Gabriela Rosu, MD, who attended ASH 2025 and engaged with the scientific discussions shaping current and future clinical practice. The studies highlighted below represent a selection of presentations that illustrate several of the broader trends emerging across hematologic malignancies.

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Front Line Fixed-Duration Therapy Gains Definition

Data presented at ASH continued to refine how clinicians and sponsors think about treatment duration in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The CLL17 trial, a large global phase 3 study, compared continuous ibrutinib with two fixed-duration venetoclax-based combinations in previously untreated patients and demonstrated non-inferior progression-free survival for the time-limited regimens.

Importantly, deeper minimal residual disease responses were observed in the combination arms, reinforcing the role of response depth in long-term disease control. Complementary insights from the FLAIR study added nuance around minimal residual disease-guided strategies and how duration may be optimized over time. These findings align with a broader body of ASH data examining how treatment intensity, duration, and sequencing can be individualized in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Listen as Gabriela shares her insights on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) data presented at ASH:

Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Shifting Assumptions Around Intensity and Targeting

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was a focal point of several plenary and late-breaking sessions. Results from the PARADIGM study showed that azacitidine plus venetoclax improved event-free survival and response rates compared with intensive induction chemotherapy in transplant-eligible patients, while also reducing induction mortality and hospital time.

In parallel, targeted approaches continued to advance. Joint scientific sessions highlighted growing experience with menin inhibitors, emphasizing genetically defined patient subsets, resistance mechanisms, and combination strategies with hypomethylating agents and venetoclax. Across ASH, these data contributed to a wider discussion about how molecularly targeted therapies may reshape both frontline and relapsed treatment strategies in acute myeloid leukemia.

Listen as Gabriela discusses key acute myeloid leukemia (AML) studies for ASH.

Follicular Lymphoma: Bispecific Antibodies Move Into Strategic Focus

ASH 2025 featured important late-stage data supporting the role of bispecific antibodies in follicular lymphoma. The phase 3 EPCORE FL-1 study demonstrated that epcoritamab combined with rituximab and lenalidomide significantly improved progression-free survival and complete response rates compared with standard therapy in relapsed follicular lymphoma.

Delivered as a fixed-duration regimen, the combination demonstrated a manageable safety profile, utilizing step-up dosing strategies. These results align with a broader ASH theme: bispecific antibodies are increasingly being evaluated not only for efficacy, but also for their reliability in being delivered across different care settings.

Listen as Gabriela shares her perspective on follicular lymphoma data and bispecific antibody development.

Multiple Myeloma: Expanding Options With Real-World Implications

Multiple myeloma remained one of the most data-rich areas of the meeting. Updated follow-up from studies of BCMA-targeted bispecific antibodies, including teclistamab and elranatamab, confirmed durable responses in heavily pretreated patients, supporting their growing role in the treatment landscape.

ASH also featured early data from the inMMyCAR study, evaluating an investigational, novel in vivo gene therapy that generates anti-BCMA CAR-T cells. While preliminary, the results prompted discussion around scalability, safety monitoring, and future integration into clinical practice.

Across multiple myeloma sessions, investigators emphasized that sequencing, safety management, and feasibility will be key considerations as treatment options continue to expand.

Listen as Gabriela reviews emerging multiple myeloma strategies presented at ASH.

Menin Inhibitors: Targeted Progress in Genetically Defined Leukemia

Menin inhibitors were highlighted across multiple sessions as a promising targeted approach for specific acute myeloid leukemia subtypes. Presentations detailed mechanisms of action, emerging resistance pathways, and combination strategies with hypomethylating agents and venetoclax.

As these agents advance, consistent molecular diagnostics and minimal residual disease assessment are becoming critical to both interpretation and execution of clinical studies. ASH discussions underscored that targeted progress depends as much on patient selection and diagnostic alignment as on the agents themselves.

Listen as Gabriela shares her insights on menin inhibitors and targeted leukemia therapy.

Looking Ahead: What These ASH Insights Mean for Development

Taken together, the data presented at ASH 2025 illustrate a hematology landscape defined by both opportunity and complexity. As treatment options expand, development programs must account for evolving standards of care, nuanced sequencing decisions, and practical considerations around safety and delivery. The meeting reinforced that many of these questions remain active areas of investigation, with additional data still needed to fully define optimal use.

For sponsors, this environment places a premium on understanding how emerging data may influence comparators, eligibility criteria, duration assumptions, and long-term follow-up as programs move forward.

Closing Reflections from Gabriela Rosu

ASH 2025 reinforced that progress in hematology is rarely driven by a single breakthrough. Instead, it is shaped by the steady accumulation of data, deeper follow-up, and growing experience with how therapies perform beyond controlled trial settings. Across diseases, the meeting highlighted a common direction: treatments are becoming more targeted, more flexible in duration, and more dependent on thoughtful integration into existing care pathways.

For sponsors, the challenge is not simply keeping pace with innovation, but translating evolving evidence into development programs that remain scientifically sound and operationally feasible as standards of care change. Decisions around treatment duration, safety mitigation, patient selection, and long-term follow-up are increasingly being made at the protocol level, informed by the kind of data and real-world insight presented at ASH.

At Veristat, ASH serves as an important checkpoint—an opportunity to synthesize what the data are signaling across indications and apply those insights when advising on study design and execution. Well-constructed protocols play a critical role in that process, helping ensure that studies reflect current science, anticipate known challenges, and remain aligned with how therapies are ultimately used in practice.

As hematology research continues to advance, the ability to connect innovation with thoughtful protocol design and disciplined execution will remain central to translating promising science into meaningful outcomes for patients.

Listen as Gabriela recaps her key takeaways from ASH.

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