The option to now robustly antagonise MCL1, in addition to BCL2 (venetoclax (ABT‐199)) and BCL2/BCL‐XL/BCL‐w (navitoclax (ABT‐263)), is likely to become a crucial weapon in the armoury against cancer, potentially as a monotherapy in haematological diseases and in combination with other targeted agents in solid tumours. The gene discussed is BCL2L1; the disease is cancer.