FDA Approves New Pancreatic Cancer Therapy Rasonque
Revolution Medicines' daraxonrasib targets KRAS mutations, offering new hope for advanced cases months ahead of schedule.
Image: Eddie Pollard / AI
Sarah Connor
The Food and Drug Administration today approved daraxonrasib, a new therapy for advanced pancreatic cancer.
Angelo de Claro, director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, stated the approval was granted 6.5 months before the user fee deadline.
The American Cancer Society estimates roughly 67,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year, with over 52,000 deaths.
The therapy specifically targets mutations in the RAS gene family, focusing on KRAS mutations.
Acting FDA Commissioner Kyle Diamantas stated, "It is our fundamental duty to deliver more cures and meaningful treatments to patients as quickly as possible."
It is our fundamental duty to deliver more cures and meaningful treatments to patients as quickly as possible.
Diamantas added that the new drug approval provides a critical new option for patients facing an extraordinarily difficult and historically hard-to-treat cancer.
The drug is approved for pancreatic cancer patients with metastatic disease, meaning the cancer has spread to other organs, who have already undergone chemotherapy, the FDA claims.
Patients receiving the new treatment reportedly lived a median of 13.2 months, compared to 6.7 months for those on chemotherapy.
Revolution Medicines claims patients taking the drug nearly doubled their survival time and experienced fewer severe side effects.
Doctors have warned that an increasing number of patients in their 20s, 30s, and 40s are being diagnosed, often without classic risk factors, over the past two decades.
Side effects of daraxonrasib reportedly include skin rash, mouth sores, diarrhea, and other digestive issues.
Revolution Medicines has not yet announced how much the medication will cost, the company claims.