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Oral RAS Drug Doubles Survival in Pancreatic Cancer Trial

The result signals a new path against a cancer long resistant to drugs.

Overview

  • Revolution Medicines said its pill daraxonrasib extended median survival to 13.2 months versus 6.7 with chemotherapy and cut the risk of death by 60% in a late-stage study, with fuller data due at a scientific meeting.
  • Company leaders said they are moving fast toward U.S. review, and a new FDA voucher program could shorten decisions to one to two months according to the CEO.
  • Specialists called the readout a watershed for this disease and plan to explore use earlier in care once approved, with ongoing trials in newly diagnosed patients to test that approach.
  • Former senator Ben Sasse, enrolled in a trial, reported a sharp drop in his CA 19-9 tumor marker and shrinking tumors, though he and other patients have faced rashes and, in his case, facial bleeding.
  • RAS mutations drive most pancreatic tumors and were long seen as undruggable, and momentum now includes other efforts such as a Northwestern-led drug plus chemotherapy that cut deaths by 38% and doubled one-year survival in its study.