Encorafenib

Encorafenib is an oral small molecule drug that inhibits BRAF kinase, sold under the brand name Braftovi. It is an ATP competitive RAF kinase inhibitor that lowers ERK phosphorylation and reduces cyclin D1 levels, which stops affected cells from dividing. It was developed by Array BioPharma, later carried forward by Pfizer, under the earlier code name LGX818, and approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in June 2018 for use together with binimetinib against unresectable or metastatic melanoma carrying a BRAF V600E or V600K mutation. The same combination was later approved for metastatic colorectal cancer and for non small cell lung cancer carrying the same mutation. Patients take encorafenib as capsules, and common side effects recorded in trials include fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and joint pain, each affecting at least a quarter of patients.