4013 Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is driven predominantly by oncogenic KRAS signaling, yet prior attempts to target the MAPK pathway have been limited by toxicity and emergence of resistance. Atebimetinib is a next-generation, deep cyclic inhibitor (DCI) of MEK designed to achieve pulsatile pathway inhibition with improved tolerability. We report a Phase 2a cohort evaluating atebimetinib in combination with modified gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel (mGnP) in the first-line treatment of advanced or metastatic PDAC (NCT05585320). Methods: In this multicenter, open-label, nonrandomized Phase 2a study, patients with previously untreated advanced or metastatic PDAC were eligible for participation and were treated with orally administered atebimetinib daily in combination with mGnP (modification: every other week dosing). The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) per investigator assessment using RECIST 1.1 criteria in response-evaluable patients. The cohort was powered (~80%, one sided alpha 0.05) using an optimal Simon’s 2-stage design. Results: Fifty-five patients were enrolled and treated with 320 mg atebimetinib daily + mGnP. ECOG performance status was 0-1 (100%); median age was 68 years (range 42-85 years), 62% were ≥65 years, and 55% were male. No grade 5 treatment-related adverse events (AE) were observed. No AE related to atebimetinib were higher than grade 3. Grade 3 AE related to atebimetinib occurred in 29% of participants, with the most frequent being rash (5%), ALT increased (5%), and AST increased (5%). Among the 50 response-evaluable patients, best overall response (BOR) achieved were 21 PR, 21 SD, 7 PD, 1 NE. The ORR was 42%, and DCR was 84%. With a median follow-up of 10.4 months (data cutoff Jan 7, 2026), 6- and 9-month OS rates were 88% and 79%, respectively; median PFS was 8.3 months and median OS was not reached. Conclusions: Atebimetinib in combination with mGnP demonstrated favorable safety and promising efficacy compared to historic standard-of-care (SoC) GnP. 1 A phase 3 registrational trial is planned to start in mid-2026 for evaluation of atebimetinib + mGnP versus SoC GnP. 1. Von Hoff DD, Ervin T, Arena FP, et al. Increased survival in pancreatic cancer with nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine. N Engl J Med . 2013;369(18):1691-1703. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1304369 (PMID: 24131140). Clinical trial information: NCT05585320 .
Chung et al. (2026) studied this question.