A summary report from the 2026 GMAN Annual Meeting, which took place in person from June 5–7, 2026, in Stockholm, Sweden

The International Myeloma Foundation’s (IMF) 2026 Global Myeloma Action Network Summit took place from June 5-7, 2026, in Stockholm, Sweden — convening leaders from more than 40 myeloma patient advocacy organizations around the world to strengthen international collaboration and identify practical strategies to improve outcomes for people living with multiple myeloma.

The Global Myeloma Action Network® (GMAN®) is a global coalition of myeloma patient organizations representing over 40 countries. GMAN works in collaboration with patients, care partners, physicians/key opinion leaders, policymakers, industry partners, and other global stakeholders.

This year, the summit welcomed several first-time participants and newly established advocacy groups from Greece and the Philippines.

The summit also celebrated the continued growth of the global myeloma advocacy community while honoring the legacy of IMF co-founder, Dr. Brian G.M. Durie, whose vision of international collaboration and patient-centered advocacy continues to inspire GMAN's work around the world.

By bringing together organizations from every continent, the 2026 GMAN Summit created a dynamic forum for sharing experiences, exchanging successful approaches, and building partnerships to address common challenges.

By combining scientific education, advocacy and policy discussions, organizational capacity building, and interactive workshops, participants explored opportunities to expand access to quality care and strengthen patient support globally.

GMAN: A working community built on trust, shared learning, and collective ambition

IMF President and CEO Heather Cooper Ortner formally opened the 12th Annual GMAN Summit and emphasized that the GMAN summit goes beyond being a conference — “it’s a working community that’s built on collaboration, trust, shared learning and collective ambition,” she stated. 

She highlighted the summit's focus on translating scientific advances into equitable patient access, strengthening advocacy organizations, and identifying practical solutions to shared challenges — including reimbursement, delayed approvals, geographic disparities, and access to diagnostics, clinical trials, supportive care, and treatment.

Heather encouraged participants to learn from one another, build new partnerships, and use the summit as an opportunity to strengthen the global advocacy movement. She honored the legacy of IMF co-founder, Dr. Brian G.M. Durie — reflecting on his vision and values on scientific rigor, compassion, curiosity, and collaboration. She invited everyone to honor Dr. Durie’s legacy by continuing to work with the same sense of purpose and commitment that he brought to the community.

Highlights of the 2026 GMAN Annual Summit

GMAN: A global community united by a shared commitment

Meeting facilitator Philip Atkinson opened the summit by emphasizing that GMAN is a global community united by a shared commitment to improving outcomes for people living with myeloma. He encouraged participants to build new relationships, ask questions, and learn from one another throughout the meeting, noting that strong communities thrive on connection, curiosity, and shared purpose.

Global scientific update: The latest from ASCO 2026

IMF Medical Advisor Dr. Joseph Mikhael presented the latest global scientific update from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, which took place from May 29 – June 2 in Chicago, IL.

He highlighted several clinical trials that he believes could shape future care, emphasizing advances in smoldering myeloma, frontline treatment, and relapsed disease: the ERASMM (EMN34), DREAMM-9, IDEAL, CEPHEUS, MajesTEC-9, MONVISO, SUCCESSOR-2, and inMMyCAR trials.

Dr. Mikhael said the research underscores several major trends in multiple myeloma: increasing efforts to treat high-risk SMM earlier, continued evidence supporting four-drug frontline therapy, expanding roles for belantamab mafodotin and iberdomide in NDMM patients, earlier use of teclistamab and other bispecific antibodies after relapse, growing momentum for the CELMoD drugs iberdomide and mezigdomide, and the emergence of in vivo CAR T-cell therapy as a potentially more accessible form of cellular immunotherapy.  

Panel discussion: Why is it important to discuss myeloma precursors?

Moderated by Mira Armour of Mijelom CRO, with Dr. Sæmundur Rögnvaldsson and Dr. Sigrún Þorsteinsdóttir of the iStopMM (Iceland Screens Treats or Prevents Multiple Myeloma) Project, and myeloma patient Pernille Bro Skejø as panelists, the panel discussion highlighted growing evidence that precursor conditions to multiple myeloma—monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) — may cause health problems before progression and require more personalized management. Topics discussed include results from the iStopMM study and the AQUILA trial.

According to iStopMM researchers, modern progression rates from SMM to multiple myeloma or AL amyloidosis are lower than historical estimates because SLiM-CRAB criteria and advanced imaging detect active disease earlier, while the validated 2/20/20 model remains the preferred tool for identifying high-risk SMM. Additional iStopMM data showed screening increased SMM detection nearly 28-fold, enabled myeloma diagnosis about one year earlier, reduced severe kidney and bone complications, and did not increase anxiety or depression, although its effect on long-term survival remains under study. Additionally, MGUS and SMM are associated with a 30%–40% higher fracture risk, while obesity may increase disease risk and progression; however, evidence that weight loss slows M-protein increases remains preliminary.

In the AQUILA trial, three years of daratumumab monotherapy improved progression-free and overall survival in high-risk SMM. Yet Danish investigators found the trial's eligibility criteria identified a lower-risk population than the 2/20/20 model, supporting active surveillance for most patients and selective early treatment only for carefully chosen high-risk individuals.

Poster Session

Building on the success of the inaugural poster session at the 2025 GMAN Summit, this year's session expanded to feature nine advocacy organizations showcasing the unique challenges, innovative programs, and advocacy initiatives underway in their countries. Designed to encourage peer-to-peer learning, the session provided participants with an opportunity to exchange ideas, discuss common barriers, and identify solutions that could be adapted across regions. The posters generated lively discussion throughout the summit and reinforced the value of sharing local experiences to strengthen global myeloma advocacy.

The nine advocacy organizations included Myeloma Australia; Mijelom u BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Myeloma Canada, Mijelom CRO (Croatia); Af3m Association Française des Malades du Myélome Multiple (France); The AMPATH Multiple Myeloma Program AMMP (Kenya); APLL Associação Portuguesa de Leucemia e Linfoma (Portugal); Association of Myeloma Patients Serbia; and CEMMP: Comunidad Española de Pacientes con Mieloma Múltiple (Spain).

Global Landscape of Myeloma: Challenges and Opportunities 

IMF Chairperson of the Board Dr. S. Vincent Rajkumar emphasized that decades of progress in myeloma treatment have been driven by the disease’s biology and unprecedented collaboration across researchers, patients, industry, regulators, and advocacy group.

However, he warned that unequal access to proven therapies remains the greatest global challenge. Dr. Rajkumar called for a globally accepted minimum standard of myeloma care focused on ensuring access to established treatments that have delivered the greatest survival gains, alongside simpler, lower-cost clinical trials and stronger advocacy to reduce disparities in access and affordability.

Addressing the concept of a cure, Dr. Rajkumar said myeloma can only be considered truly cured if treatment stops and the disease never returns, while ongoing research into MRD-guided treatment discontinuation and fixed-duration therapies may help identify patients with durable, treatment-free remissions.

The session concluded that expanding access to effective therapies, reducing healthcare barriers, and strengthening global collaboration are the most impactful steps to improve outcomes for myeloma patients worldwide.