What is Cotellic used for?

Cotellic (cobimetinib) is an orally administered kinase inhibitor used to treat advanced melanoma (skin cancer) in patients with an abnormal genetic marker known as a BRAF V600E or V600K.

Cotellic is used in combination with vemurafenib (Zelboraf).

BRAF and MEK are proteins in a cell signaling pathway that help control cell growth and survival. Vemurafenib is designed to inhibit some mutated forms of BRAF, and Cotellic is designed to inhibit some forms of MEK. When used in combination, Cotellic and vemurafenib are thought to reduce cancer cell growth longer than with vemurafenib alone.

Cotellic is also used to treat histiocytic neoplasms, a group of rare diseases caused by overproduction of the white blood cells called histiocytes. The diseases include Erdheim-Chester disease, Rosai-Dorfman disease, and Langerhans cell histiocytosis.