Former Republican Senator Ben Sasse is dying of pancreatic cancer. He appeared on 60 Minutes in an interview with Scott Pelley earlier this week to talk about his terminal diagnosis and how it has altered his outlook on the short amount of time he has left. Sasse touches on matters of faith, philosophy, and politics, and while we disagree on specifics, he strikes me as someone willing to engage intellectually and not just ideologically. It was a surprisingly open and emotional conversation that’s worth watching, regardless of your political leanings. My heart goes out to him and his family.

Asked by Pelley, “You were expected to be dead by now… what’s changed?” Sasse answered, “Let’s go with providence, prayer, and a miracle drug.”

That “miracle drug” Sasse is taking, daraxonrasib, is the one my wife has been working on at Revolution Medicines (RevMed) for almost five years and was the impetus for watching the 13-minute interview (the main link is to the longer 41-minute interview). The drug could extend his life by several months; in a recent announcement, RevMed reported that the drug almost doubled how long patients lived, to a median of 13.2 months, compared to 6.7 months for patients who received chemotherapy.

The company received an FDA fast-track designation in November, and was the subject of takeover rumors in January. Most recently, the FDA issued a “safe to proceed” letter, allowing the company to “initiate an expanded access treatment protocol (EAP).” This gives patients with previously treated pancreatic cancer a chance to get access to daraxonrasib without needing to be accepted into a clinical trial—sometimes known as “compassionate use”—potentially offering more people a few more precious months with their loved ones.

Sasse is a deeply religious man. Asked by Pelley, “God, you believe, has a plan?” Sasse replied:

Absolutely. There are no maverick molecules in the universe.

Sasse puts his faith in God. I put my faith in science. But on this, we can both agree.