Washington, Aug 29:
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a groundbreaking new drug for advanced pancreatic cancer, providing a new treatment option for patients suffering from one of the world’s deadliest cancers.
The drug, daraxonrasib, works by targeting a mutated protein that drives tumour growth in more than 90 per cent of pancreatic cancer cases.
The treatment is being marketed by Revolution Medicines under the brand name Rasonque.
The FDA granted expedited approval to the drug following clinical evidence showing that patients receiving the treatment experienced a significant improvement in survival.
According to the company, patients taking the drug nearly doubled their survival time in a study, while also experiencing fewer severe side effects than those receiving the comparative treatment.
Daraxonrasib is designed to block the activity of a mutated form of the KRAS protein, which has long been considered one of the most difficult targets in cancer drug development.
KRAS mutations are found in a large majority of pancreatic cancers, making the development of drugs targeting the protein a major goal for cancer researchers.
For decades, drugmakers struggled to develop effective medicines against KRAS-driven cancers.
The new treatment therefore represents a significant development in the effort to target the biological mechanism responsible for tumour growth.
The drug is administered as a daily pill, offering patients an oral treatment rather than requiring an infusion-based therapy.
However, the treatment is expected to be expensive.
Revolution Medicines said a one-month supply would cost approximately $39,800 in the United States.
The approval comes amid continued efforts by researchers and pharmaceutical companies to develop more effective therapies for pancreatic cancer, which is often diagnosed at an advanced stage and has historically had limited treatment options.
The FDA’s expedited approval reflects the urgent need for new therapies for patients with advanced disease.
Further studies and real-world use will provide additional information about the drug’s effectiveness, safety and long-term benefits.
The approval is being viewed as a potentially important milestone in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, particularly for patients whose tumours carry the targeted mutation.