Revolution's lifesaving pancreatic cancer drug wins speedy FDA approval

When Revolution announced the trial results in April for the drug, it set off a firestorm of demand. The FDA quickly granted early access to it under its compassionate use program, which allows patients with serious or life-threatening conditions to get experimental treatments outside clinical trials prior to authorization by the regulator.

The treatment has already offered some patients with early access to the drug a reprieve from the toll of chemotherapy.

Barbara Andes, 88, of Fullerton, California, who began taking it in July after a year of chemotherapy, said the pill allowed her to resume regular activities and caused far less nausea and fatigue. The approval would open access to the treatment for many more patients, she added.

"For patients and families facing metastatic pancreatic cancer, this approval represents a long-awaited and long deserved advance," said Brian Wolpin, director of the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.