A Game-Changing Drug for Pancreatic Cancer Just Got FDA Approval

An experimental drug set to change the landscape of pancreatic cancer treatment has officially just become medical reality. On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved Revolution Medicines’ daraxonrasib as a last resort option for adults with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC). In late-stage clinical trials, the drug doubled people’s length of survival compared to standard chemotherapy. Daraxonrasib, which will be sold under the brand name Rasonque, is poised to be the first in a new class of medications that can attack a long-elusive target commonly found in pancreatic and other cancers. “Today’s approval provides a critical new option for patients facing an extraordinarily difficult and historically hard-to-treat cancer. It is our fundamental duty to deliver more cures and meaningful treatments to patients as quickly as possible,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Kyle Diamantas in a statement from the agency. The unrelenting growth of cancer cells can be driven by many different factors. That said, the vast majority of pancreatic cancers, perhaps up to 90%, are fueled by mutations in a particular family of proteins known as RAS. For years, scientists have tried a