New Pancreatic Cancer Drug Doubles Survival Time and Is Now Available in Utah

A Breakthrough Decades in the Making

Oncologists are calling daraxonrasib a breakthrough in the treatment of pancreatic cancer — one of the deadliest, most difficult-to-treat cancers, with one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers. For patients and families who have long faced grim statistics, the arrival of this drug feels seismic. When lead investigator Dr. Brian Wolpin presented the study findings at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago on May 31, he received a standing ovation from normally reserved researchers and doctors.

While cancer doctors and researchers have made great gains in finding new cures for other cancers, pancreatic cancer has been a stubborn and deadly foe — the third-leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S., killing nearly 53,000 people each year. About 67,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the United States in 2026. Until now, the odds for those diagnosed at stage 4 were devastating.

What Makes Daraxonrasib Different

Daraxonrasib is the first drug that targets cancer-causing mutations in pancreas cells, specifically targeting a mutation in the KRAS gene, part of the RAS genetic family. KRAS is a cellular protein that drives cancer growth, and the vast majority of all pancreatic cancers are caused by a mutation in this gene. Scientists and clinicians have been trying to target specific KRAS mutations for a very long time — and this trial asked: why not hit all of the KRAS mutations at the same time?

A diagnosis of stage 4 metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma typically gives patients less than six months to live without treatment, and until now, chemotherapy was the only option. Daraxonrasib, an oral medication, works differently than traditional chemotherapy by slowing the growth of cancer cells, offering patients a chance at a longer life. Usually, when oncologists think of an improvement in pancreatic cancer survival, they think of a 25% improvement. This medication actually doubled survival in patients with advanced disease — and some patients who participated in the trial are still alive, which is unheard of given that the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer patients is only 13–14%.

The Numbers That Are Turning Heads

In trials, daraxonrasib doubled survival time for stage 4 cancer patients, from 6.7 months on chemotherapy to 13.2 months. That may not sound like a lifetime, but in the world of pancreatic oncology, it represents a monumental leap forward. "This is a true paradigm shift in how we treat pancreatic cancer," said Dr. Mark Lewis, director of gastrointestinal oncology at Intermountain Health. Lewis told media that this medication is "the real deal" — a striking statement in a field where patients are too often offered hope rather than actual treatment.

Who Can Access It Now — and What Comes Next

Ten Intermountain Health hospitals in Colorado, Montana, and Utah have joined a national Expanded Access Protocol to provide eligible patients with advanced pancreatic cancer access to daraxonrasib. The drug has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but Intermountain Health is now able to provide it to people under what is called an Extended Access Program, along with the Huntsman Cancer Institute and Utah Cancer Specialists.

The FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy and Orphan Drug designations quickly, and daraxonrasib is now permitted via the FDA's expanded access treatment protocol — making the drug available to pancreatic cancer patients who have already gone through chemotherapy, though it requires the prescribing oncologist to request permission from Revolution Medicines prior to administering it. Full FDA approval could come sometime later in 2026 if no complications emerge, and daraxonrasib is also being studied for other solid-tumor cancers, with preliminary results looking promising. For a disease that has resisted progress for so long, that pipeline of possibility is something entirely new.