Published: 17:02 BST, 26 August 2026 | Updated: 23:11 BST, 26 August 2026
Health officials have approved a breakthrough pancreatic cancer drug that doubles survival odds.
The FDA announced Wednesday it has approved daraxonrasib, a first-of-its-kind pill that targets the genetic mutation KRAS, which drives nearly 90 percent of pancreatic cancer cases.
Taken as two pills a day, the drug is approved for pancreatic cancer patients with metastatic disease, meaning it has spread to other organs, who have already tried chemotherapy.
In a key clinical trial unveiled earlier this year, participants who took daraxonrasib lived for a median of 13.2 months, nearly double the amount of time as those who received chemotherapy. Several patients even lived for years after starting the treatment.
While the drug is not a cure for pancreatic cancer, it does offer a glimmer of hope for one of America's deadliest cancers, which kills nearly all patients within five years.
'We've never seen a benefit like this,' Dr Anna Berkenblit, the chief scientific and medical officer at the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, said.
Drug manufacturer Revolution Medicines said the approved daraxonrasib will be sold under the brand name Rasonque. The company has not yet announced how much the medication will cost.
However, since May, more than 2,000 patients have received free, early access to daraxonrasib through the FDA's expanded access program, including former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, who was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in December.
The FDA has approved a daily pill that doubles survival odds in pancreatic cancer patients
Revolution Medicines said people receiving the drug through expanded access will transition to getting it covered through their insurance.
Pancreatic cancer strikes 67,000 Americans every year and kills 52,000, American Cancer Society data shows.
For decades, it was regarded as a disease of old age, most commonly affecting people over 65, particularly those with long-standing risk factors such as smoking, obesity or type 2 diabetes.
But over the past 20 years, doctors have warned an increasing number of patients in their 20s, 30s and 40s are being diagnosed, often without classic risk factors.
Population-level data appears to support those observations. According to the American Cancer Society, the lifetime risk of developing pancreatic cancer is one in 56 for men and one in 60 for women.
