The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday, August 26, approved a groundbreaking new drug for advanced pancreatic cancer that offers double survival time against one of the deadliest forms of cancer. The once-daily pill, called daraxonrasib and sold under the brand name Rasonque by Revolution Medicines, is the first drug of its kind to successfully target the mutated KRAS protein that fuels tumor growth in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases.
For instance, in a trial funded by the drug manufacturer in which 500 patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer resistant to previous therapies were treated, patients under treatment with daraxonrasib survived for a median of 13.2 months, while those under chemotherapy only survived for 6.7 months.
The drug was approved by the FDA more than six months earlier than expected within a priority review program meant to approve treatments for important public health issues. This type of cancer is among the deadliest because it is usually detected when it has already spread.
According to the American Cancer Society, there will be more than 67,000 cases of pancreatic cancer and more than 52,000 deaths from the disease in America this year. The five-year survival rate is only 13%. Common side effects of the drug include rash, diarrhea, mouth sores, and nausea.