ATLANTA — The Food and Drug Administration has approved Rasonque, a daily pill for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
The treatment is intended for individuals who have not found success with prior therapies or who cannot receive traditional treatments.
The approval comes as the American Cancer Society reports more than 67,000 people will receive a pancreatic cancer diagnosis this year.
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When taken daily alongside standard chemotherapy, Rasonque has been shown to extend survival for patients battling the disease.
Manufactured by Revolution Medicines, Rasonque belongs to a new class of drugs designed to target RAS mutations. According to the manufacturer, these mutations drive most pancreatic cancer cases.
Channel 2’s Jorge Estevez spoke to Dr. Shafia Rahman, an oncologist at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, who praised the clinical impact of the newly approved treatment.
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“We have not seen this amount of benefit from any drug in pancreatic cancer so far,” Rahman said.
However, the medication presents financial hurdles for families.
Revolution Medicines stated that a 30-day supply will cost wholesalers nearly $40,000, leaving patients to rely on private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or patient assistance programs to afford the pill.
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