STAT+: For pancreatic cancer patients, an exciting drug can feel out of reach

Amy Johnston is distraught and readily admits that she is “grasping at straws.” Diagnosed last year with pancreatic cancer, she has had chemotherapy and surgery and is now enrolled in a clinical trial hoping to delay progression of the disease. By the end of this month, she expects to know if the treatment is working; if it’s doesn’t, she and her physician plan to seek access to&#x A0; another drug that, while still technically experimental, is causing a sensation. The drug, called daraxonrasib and developed by Revolution Medicines, nearly doubled overall survival time in pancreatic cancer patients in a clinical trial. It is now being offered through an expanded access program, which allows critically ill people to receive an experimental medicine outside of such a study. But for Johnston and other patients, the excitement has come with anxiety. On one hand, there is optimism that the treatment — expected to be approved as a second-line therapy — can prolong their lives. Yet there is so much interest and demand that patients are trepidatious about when they might get the drug or if there will be enough to go around. “This is such a small company, and I worry their production is not able to keep up with the need,” said Johnston, a 35-year-old office administrator and mother of three young children who lives in Gilbertsville, Pa. “Who receives it first? Will it be for those who the drug is the last resort? It’s a good idea but how early can you get it to people?Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…