Both are tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Here is how Gleevec and Tasigna compare on class, mechanism, dosing, approval and supply.
Gleevec is a kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of: Newly diagnosed adult and pediatric patients with Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) in chronic phase. ( 1.1 ) Patients with Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) in blast crisis (BC), accelerated phase (AP), or in chronic phase (CP) after failure of interferon-alpha therapy. ( 1.2 ) Adult patients with relapsed or refractory Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL). ( 1.3 ) Pediatric patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) in combination with chemotherapy. ( 1.4 ) Adult patients with myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative diseases (MDS/MPD) associated with platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) gene re-arrangements. ( 1.5 ) Adult patients with aggressive systemic mas…
Tasigna is a kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of: Adult and pediatric patients greater than or equal to 1 year of age with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) in chronic phase. ( 1.1 ) Adult patients with chronic phase (CP) and accelerated phase (AP) Ph+ CML resistant to or intolerant to prior therapy that included imatinib. ( 1.2 ) Pediatric patients greater than or equal to 1 year of age with Ph+ CML-CP and CML-AP resistant or intolerant to prior tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. ( 1.3 ) 1.1 Adult and Pediatric Patients With Newly Diagnosed Ph+ CML-CP Tasigna is indicated for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients greater than or equal to 1 year of age with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) in chronic phase. 1.2 Adult Patients With Resistant or Intolerant Ph+ CML…
12.1 Mechanism of Action Imatinib mesylate is a protein-tyrosine kinase inhibitor that inhibits the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase, the constitutive abnormal tyrosine kinase created by the Philadelphia chromosome abnormality in CML. Imatinib inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in BCR-ABL positive cell lines as well as fresh leukemic cells from Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia. Imatinib inhibits colony formation in assays using ex vivo peripheral blood and bone marrow samples from CML patients. In vivo, imatinib inhibits tumor growth of BCR-ABL transfected murine myeloid cells as well as BCR-ABL positive leukemia lines derived from CML patients in blast crisis. Ima…
12.1 Mechanism of Action Nilotinib is an inhibitor of the BCR-ABL kinase. Nilotinib binds to and stabilizes the inactive conformation of the kinase domain of ABL protein. In vitro, nilotinib inhibited BCR-ABL mediated proliferation of murine leukemic cell lines and human cell lines derived from patients with Ph+ CML. Under the conditions of the assays, nilotinib was able to overcome imatinib resistance resulting from BCR-ABL kinase mutations, in 32 out of 33 mutations tested. Nilotinib inhibited the autophosphorylation of the following kinases at IC50 values as indicated: BCR-ABL (20 to 60 nM), PDGFR (69 nM), c-KIT (210 nM), CSF-1R (125 to 250 nM), and DDR1 (3.7 nM).
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Plain-English summaries and drug-class explainers are written and reviewed by the Priya Life Science editorial team, led by Sreepriya Prasannan (MSc Digital Transformation of Life Sciences (Innopharma Education / Griffith College); MSc & BSc Botany). Data is retrieved automatically from the sources above and cross-checked with AI-assisted verification (Anthropic's Claude) — brand and generic names are matched against the exact FDA product record so that a combination product or a different formulation cannot be mistaken for the drug on this page. An editor reviews the result before publication. We describe this in full in our editorial standards and corrections policy. The FDA data on this page was last retrieved on 6 Aug 2026.