Nilotinib drug, molecular model. Nilotinib is a drug used for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a cancer of the blood. It is a BCR-ABL inhibitor that works by blocking a tyrosine kinase enzyme. It is similar to the other CML drug imatinib, but with greater potency and used for drug-resistant forms of CML. It has been approved for use in the USA since 2007. The molecular formula is: C28.H22.F3.N7.O. Atoms (spheres) are colour-coded: carbon (light grey), hydrogen (white), fluorine (green), nitrogen (blue), and oxygen (red).