{
  "id": 3643625,
  "title": "Pancreatic cancer’s once daily pill gets US FDA nod: What it means for therapy and India?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/pancreatic-cancers-once-daily-pill-gets-us-fda-nod-what-it-means-for",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-27T02:28:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/health-wellness/fda-approves-daraxonrasib-rasonque-pancreatic-cancer-pill-survival-rate-india-cost-10851319/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a major breakthrough for pancreatic cancer treatment, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved daraxonrasib, an oral medication taken once a day, for patients with advanced, metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma who have not responded to previous treatments. This represents a significant improvement over traditional chemotherapy, which only extended median survival to 6.7 months. With daraxonrasib, patients lived a median of 13.2 months after the drug began, a substantial reduction in risk of death as indicated by a hazard ratio of approximately 0.40.\n\nPancreatic cancer poses particular challenges due to its rarity of early diagnosis and dense surrounding microenvironment (stroma) that resists many treatment strategies. Professor Anant Ramaswamy, gastrointestinal cancers and geriatric oncology specialist at Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, emphasized that advanced pancreatic cancer has historically only shown incremental improvements despite decades of research. This new pill marks a notable shift in the treatment landscape.\n\nDaraxonrasib is an innovative drug that targets RAS, a family of proteins that act as signaling switches inside cells. In cancer cells, RAS proteins become mutated, causing abnormal growth. Daraxonrasib is a new generation of medicines designed to switch off these RAS proteins, effectively targeting multiple forms of the protein, a key driver of tumour growth. The FDA approved daraxonrasib after it met its primary and key secondary endpoints, including overall survival and progression-free survival, as well as positive patient-reported quality-of-life measures.\n\nHowever, daraxonrasib is not a panacea. The drug is currently approved for adults with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma who have received at least one prior systemic treatment or are not candidates for multiagent systemic therapy. Thus, it does not replace surgery, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy, but rather adds a new targeted therapy option to the treatment arsenal. Trials are ongoing to determine whether daraxonrasib can be used in earlier treatment stages or in combination with other therapies.\n\nWhile the convenience of a daily oral pill is appealing, it does not negate the potential side effects. The FDA lists common adverse effects, including rash, diarrhoea, mouth inflammation/ulceration (stomatitis), nausea, fatigue, vomiting, abdominal pain, edema, decreased appetite, and hemorrhage. Doctors must carefully weigh the benefits of tumour control, survival, side effects, and quality of life for each individual patient.\n\nFrom a cost perspective, the US wholesale acquisition price for a 30-day supply is $39,800 (approximately ₹38 lakh at current exchange rates), translating to roughly $477,600 per year. However, actual out-of-pocket costs for patients depend on insurance coverage, deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance arrangements, and assistance programs.\n\nIn India, the FDA approval does not automatically grant access to the drug. Regulatory approval, importation, local marketing arrangements, and reimbursement would all need to be addressed. Thus, while the FDA decision is a significant scientific development, it does not guarantee immediate access for Indian patients. Nonetheless, the approval of daraxonrasib validates a broader therapeutic strategy targeting RAS mutations, which are present in several major cancers. Additionally, this opens the door for further research into other RAS-driven malignancies, such as lung and colorectal cancers, offering hope for a wider range of patients in the future.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Conversation",
        "title": "FDA approves breakthrough pancreatic cancer drug – an oncologist explains how daraxonrasib nearly doubles survival",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/fda-approves-breakthrough-pancreatic-cancer-drug-an-oncologist",
        "published": "2026-08-26T19:57:46.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Hindustan Times - World News",
        "title": "Pancreatic cancer drug Daraxonrasib gets approval from FDA: All you need to know",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/pancreatic-cancer-drug-daraxonrasib-gets-approval-from-fda-all-you",
        "published": "2026-08-27T00:08:28.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}