Balancing Infection and Thrombosis: Bispecific Antibodies and the Many Roles of HRG

In this week's episode, Blood editor Dr. Laura Michaelis interviews Drs. Joshua Hill and Jeffery Weitz on their latest articles published in Blood. Dr. Hill and Dr. Michaelis discuss the evolving landscape of infection risk in adults receiving bispecific antibody therapies for advanced B‑cell malignancies. They explore how these risks differ from those seen with allogeneic transplant, CAR T‑cell therapy, and traditional CD20‑directed antibodies, and touch on emerging approaches such as trispecific antibodies and evolving strategies for supportive care, including immunoglobulin replacement. In the second half of the episode, Dr. Michaelis is joined by Dr. Jeffrey Weitz to discuss new insights into the role of histidine‑rich glycoprotein in hemostasis. Their conversation delves into HRG’s interactions with key platelet receptors, its behavior in inflammatory states like sepsis and COVID‑19, and how these observations may reshape thinking about thrombosis risk and future therapeutic approaches.

Featured Articles: 

• How I prevent infections in adults receiving bispecific antibody therapies for advanced B-cell malignancies | Joshua Hill, MD
• Histidine-rich glycoprotein modulates platelet adhesion and aggregation by binding to GPIbα and GPIIb/IIIa | Jeffery Weitz, MD