Known as a businessman and former director of data analytics for top Fortune 500 companies such as Walmart and PepsiCO, Yelak Biru has also added another victory to his extensive resume and life overall, being a 30-year cancer survivor. At the age of 25 during his time as a graduate student at the University of North Texas in 1995, Yelak Biru was diagnosed with Myeloma, a form of blood cancer that also can be found in bone marrow. Shocked upon the diagnosis, Biru was told that he would only have 2-3 years to live.
“Being diagnosed at 25 is out of the ordinary because the average age of diagnosis is in the mid to late 60s… life started to become a day to day event instead of something you plan for.” He continued, “At that time of me being in grad school, most people plan for the long term but I immediately started chemotherapy and using the medications that were the only ones available at that time.”
Biru refers to this time period as the “dark ages” or prehistoric era of treatment for multiple myeloma.
Multiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer that develops from plasma cells that rapidly multiply in a person’s bone marrow. Plasma cells are a type of white blood cell which typically fight off exposure to infections and are deemed as healthy, but the cells over-populate and become cancerous. This results in a person’s skeleton developing lesions, directly on the bone. Multiple myeloma can also show up in other parts of the body such as a person’s chest, breast, and also cause kidney failure.
According to Legend Biotech, “multiple myeloma is an incurable blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow and is characterized by an excessive proliferation of plasma cells”
Some facts about multiple myeloma according to the International Myeloma Foundation include:
Myeloma is the most common blood cancer
in people of African descent and is twice as
common in African Americans
In a 2013 study published in Ash
Publications’ Blood, most people receive their
diagnosis at the age of 60 but African
Americans are younger at diagnosis by five
years.
By 2034, it is estimated that African
Americans will make up roughly 24 percent
of the newly diagnosed myeloma population,
meaning 1 in 4 African Americans will have
multiple myeloma.
There are currently 20 percent of African
Americans in the U.S. living with multiple
myeloma.
There exists a general distrust of the health
care system among African Americans due to
persistent disparities in care and health out
comes
African Americans with myeloma face dis
parities in care.
A full list of other facts and information about multiple myeloma can be found at www.myeloma.org.
Biru’s physician, hematologist-oncologist, Dr. Janakiram began working with Biru in 2021 to develop a plan that allowed Biru to advocate for himself on what he felt the best treatment would be throughout their patient/physician relationship, a collaborative effort. Dr. Janakiram currently practices at the City of Hope Comprehensive Care Center in Duarte, Calif., known as one of the top five cancer institutions in the country, according to US World News & World Reports.
“I strongly think that Carvykti (CAR-T) is ‘one of one’ such treatment because before this, when the first CAR-T Cell therapy was approved for multiple myeloma… it was incredibly rare to have patients go through multiple treatments in the past, get a good response to treatment and stay in remission for such a long time.” He added, “That was a rarity before 2020, and 2021, before the two CAR-T cell treatments were approved and certainly filter cells have been shown to be more effective, which is excellent.
Dr. Janakiram said that multiple myeloma is a “unique form of cancer” because it has three stages instead of four and can show up anywhere in the body and through blood, unlike other cancers. The type of treatment for each patient varies and is a case by case basis depending on the patient and physician’s mutual agreement on which form of immunotherapy would be best.
He also says that some patients are not aware of Carvykti and encourages them to always ask physicians questions and do their own research in order to advocate for themselves as they collaborate with a doctor to figure out which treatment is best.
Biru is currently in more than two yeras remission after almost 30 years of trying different medications and forms of immunotherapy that have allowed him to keep living, but doing so in and out of remission for various periods of time. He is currently two and a half years in remission since his discovery of Carvykti (CAR-T cell therapy).
Chief medical officer of Legend Biotech, Mythili Koneru, plays a crucial role in the developmental stages of Carvykti and spoke to Our Weekly about the new innovative medication. An extensive research study was recently released at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, signifying the ground breaking results of this new form of treatment for patients.
“Carvykti has been really life changing for a lot of patients, because it has really had unprecedented efficacy, in the sense that we will have shown an improved overall survival for patients, meaning that these patients are living longer after receiving Carvykti for their multiple myeloma.”
While there is no cure for multiple myeloma, experts such as Koneru are excited about patient’s positive experiences with Carvykti as it could potentially lead to a cure in the future.
Carvykti, approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in February 2022, is a chemic antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy that targets single domain antibodies and developed through Legend Biotech, a global leader in innovative treatments for cancer.
In the beginning process a patient receives a light run of chemo therapy, their plasma cells are then removed, taken to a laboratory, re-engineered, and then placed back into the body of the patient through an IV which is known as Carvykti (CAR-T cell therapy). After using Carvykti, Biru immediately began to notice how quickly his body took to the innovative treatment which resulted in reduced doctor visits with his physician as he has been in remission for more than two years since he began in 2022.
ASCO has released a new ground breaking abstract that highlights long term remission for multiple myeloma patients through their use of Carvykti. 33 percent of patients who have used Carvykti have been in remission for less than five years. The abstract is now available at www.meetings.asco.org/ abstracts-presentations/246413 and full data that supports the efficacy of Carvykti can be found at www.investors.legendbiotech.com/node/9081/pd
Another patient, Shay Franklin, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma shortly after her 45th birthday, 16 years ago. She discovered that she had multiple myeloma after noticing severe fatigue. It wasn’t until she got a check up with blood work — after experiencing blood hemorrhaging from another medical condition — that she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
After her diagnosis, she was devastated as she had a series of health issues that included mucositis, acute nausea, neuropathy, debilitating fatigue, and kidney function issues.
“I am passionate about sharing my story now and advocating increasing awareness, particularly in the African American community, I was the 139th person [to receive this treatment) after FDA approval.”
After being introduced to Carvykti in 2023, she is two and half years in remission, similar to Biru. She is now also a voice for cancer advocacy and ensuring that patients learn about the new form of treatment to save lives. “I have been cancer and treatment free since undergoing CAR-T immunotherapy in January 2023,” says Franklin.
Biru is an advocate who speaks about the importance of collaboration between patients, physicians and support networks. He advocates for shared decision making between patients, physicals, and pharmaceutical companies and suggests that patients can have better outcomes.
“In order for patients to be shared decision makers, they have to be educated, invited, and they have to sit at the table with the pharmaceutical companies, doctors, and those that are designing clinical trials and giving them treatments.”
Biru is currently spreading the word about his co-authoring of an educational book, most recently at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2025. The educational book is titled “Practical Guide to Clinical Trial Accessibility: Making Trial Participation a Standard of Care” and is available at www. ascopubs.org.
While he has recently stepped down from his role as president and CEO of the International Myeloma Foundation in March, Biru continues to participate in advocacy efforts, sharing his story, advising healthcare organizations and continuing to spread the word about the innovative experience he has had through the use of Carvykti.
“Carvykti allows me to be able to ‘actually’ plan for tomorrow. It allows me to be able to be present fully, for myself, for my family, for the community I serve, and as a human being in general, so I don’t have to worry about what tomorrow brings, because I’m not on treatment anymore.”
