Telomerase Analogues Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Global Industry Analysis: Competitive Landscape, Pipeline, and Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Global Industry Analysis: Analysis, 2022

Telomerase is a reverse transcriptase enzyme, responsible for the replication of telomeres. Telomeres are important for ensuring chromosomal integrity. However, sometimes due to the inability of DNA polymerase to replicate the end of the chromosome during lagging strand synthesis, cells fail to undergo senescence, progressive telomere shortening can lead to the formation of chromosome fusions, genomic instability, and eventually loss of cell viability and tumor development, which could be overcome by targeting enzyme telomerase. Telomerase overexpression is related to cancer development, thus telomerase inhibitors enable a more specific treatment of cancers such as breast cancer, lung cancer, solid tumors, pancreatic cancers, and others compared with conventional chemotherapy drugs, whereas telomerase inhibition is combined with age-related diseases, hence telomerase activators can be potent drugs against age-related diseases associated with telomere shortening. Roche and GemVax & KAEL are the key players with their approved telomerase inhibitors in the market. Geron Corporation, Ultimovacs, Race Oncology, and Merck (MSD) are some of the pharmaceutical companies with telomerase analogs in their pipeline.

Key Market Developments:

• In Nov 2022, GemVax’s Tertomotide (LucaVax) was under clinical trial approval procedures in France, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Poland, and Finland.
• In Nov 2022, GemVax’s Tertomotide (LucaVax) received approval for Alzheimer’s disease from Spanish Agency for Pharmaceuticals and Hygiene Products.
• In Apr 2023, the Ultimovacs ASA received a Notice of Intention to Grant from the European Patent Office for UV1 in combination with CTLA-4, PD-1, or PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of cancer.

Approved Telomerase Analogues:

• Vesanoid (Tretinoin) -Roche
• LucaVax (Tertomotide) -GemVax and KAEL

Pipeline Drugs - Telomerase Analogues:

• Imetelstat (GRN163L)
• UV1
• Telomelysin (Suratadenoturev)
• AAV-hTERT
• Zantrene (Bisantrene)
• Transgenic Lymphocyte Immunization (CB-10-01)
• 6-thio-2′-Deoxyguanosine (THIO)
• GX301
• V934 Vaccine
• V935 Vaccine
• VAC2

Clinical Activity and Developments of Telomerase Analogues:

Currently, there are 2 approved telomerase inhibitors in the market and more than 10 drug molecules are in clinical trials.

• In Jul 2022, Race Oncology conducted Phase-I clinical trials in acute myeloid leukemia and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia patients in Australia for Zantrene (Bisantrene).
• In Jun 2023, Ultimovacs ASA released the efficacy and adverse event data for UV1 (Synthetic peptide vaccine) from the phase-II NIPU trial in malignant pleural mesothelioma patients.