Gemvax & Kael said that it has confirmed the efficacy of GV1001 in treating prostate cancer and published it in the September edition of the Journal of Cancer.

Professor Lee Ji-yeol and his team from the College of Medicine at the Catholic University of Korea wrote the research paper, titled "GV1001 inhibits cell viability and induces apoptosis in castration-resistant prostate cancer cells through the AKT/NF-κB/VEGF pathway."

The journal covers a wide range of areas of cancer research, particularly new concepts, methods, therapies, and alternative approaches to early detection and intervention of cancer.

Research papers published in the journal include GV1001 induction of cell survival, death in prostate cancer cells and anticancer efficacy on prostate cancer cells, and anticancer efficacy of GV1001 using a prostate cancer xenograft animal model.

"GV1001 has shown to inhibit angiogenesis, induce apoptosis and inhibit cell survival in prostate cancer cells," the team said. "These results provide evidence that supports the potential of GV1001 as a prostate treatment."

A company official also said, "The effects of GV1001 on urogenital cancer were published last year in two international journals, suggesting the potential of GV1001 as an immunotherapeutic agent for various genitourinary cancers."

GV1001 is a peptide drug consisting of 16 amino acids (611-626) of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), whose primary function is to maintain the length of telomeres.

It also has various other functions, such as cell protection, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation, and stem cell activation effects.

The telomeres are located at the ends of the chromosome and protect the chromosomes. As the cells divide, the telomeres become shorter in length and then disappear completely when the cells die.