FDA approves landmark pancreatic cancer drug that's shown to improve survival

The useful part

Wednesday approved a groundbreaking new drug for the most common form of 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, that blocks a mutated protein that fuels tumor growth in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases.

How it works

• 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.
• Patients getting the new treatment lived for a median of 13.2 months compared with 6.7 months for chemotherapy recipients.

What to take from it

Side effects included skin rash, mouth sores, diarrhea and other digestive issues.

Details worth keeping

It's an approach that previously eluded drugmakers for decades.