FDA approves new pancreatic cancer drug that could extend patients’ lives

Updated on: August 26, 2026 / 8:07 PM EDT / CBS/AP

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved a groundbreaking new drug for advanced pancreatic cancer, offering U.S. patients a more effective treatment against one of the deadliest types of cancer.

FDA officials gave expedited approval to the first-of-a-kind pill, called daraxonrasib, which blocks a mutated protein that fuels tumor growth in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases. It's an approach that previously eluded drugmakers for decades.

The daily pills will be sold by Revolution Medicines under the brand name Rasonque. A one-month supply would cost approximately $39,800, the company announced.

Patients taking the drug nearly doubled their survival time, with fewer severe side effects, in a study that randomly assigned them to receive the experimental treatment or more chemotherapy. The company-funded study enrolled 500 patients whose metastatic, or spreading, cancer had quit responding to prior treatment.

"Most patients get the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer quite late, at which point its already metastatic, it's already spread," said Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News medical correspondent. "… This is a pill that blocks a protein called RAS, and mutations in RAS drive around 90% of all pancreatic cancers. Scientists have…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/