Ryan Schoenfeld, Chief Executive Officer at The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“I loved reading this week’s The New York Times piece by Gina Kolata and Rebecca Robbins on the development of daraxonrasib.
Like the rest of the oncology community, I’m thrilled by a new treatment that holds such promise for pancreatic and other cancers, but I was also particularly struck by the article’s focus on the journey to get there. Daraxonrasib is the result of four decades of research into KRAS, a protein once dismissed by the majority of the field as an ‘undruggable’ target.
The transition from ‘impossible’ to ‘clinical reality’ happened because visionary scientists, including Mark Foundation grantee Kevan Shokat, stayed the course. Their work built the fundamental knowledge base that eventually allowed industry to step in and finalize the drug’s development.
There are two critical takeaways from this story that mirror our work at The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research:
- Scientific progress requires risk. Pursuing the most ambitious ideas is essential; even when they don’t pay off immediately, they often lay the foundation for future advances.
- Lab discoveries need a bridge to the clinic. A breakthrough at the lab bench can only help patients if there is a pathway to therapeutic application and, ultimately, commercialization.
That’s why we support research at every stage. We encourage scientists to chase audacious ideas, and we provide the industry-level rigor and resources to help them de-risk their findings and prepare for commercialization.
Today, we are building on scientific momentum by funding several projects focused on the next frontier of KRAS research. One of these, funded in partnership with The Lustgarten Foundation and American Association for Cancer Research, is leveraging daraxonrasib itself to detect and intercept KRAS-mutant tumors early, before they ever become metastatic. Learn more.
The KRAS breakthrough reminds us that we have the capability to make major leaps forward, provided we have the courage to fund the science that others might call impossible. Our goal now is to ensure the next generation of breakthroughs doesn’t take forty years to reach the clinic.”
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