[7] Imetelstat is indicated for the treatment of adults with low- to intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes with transfusion-dependent anemia requiring four or more red blood cell units over eight weeks who have not responded to or have lost response to or are ineligible for erythropoiesis-stimulating agents.

[8] GRN163 is the pharmacological component with telomerase inhibition based on experiments with poly-G oligonucleotides first conducted at the University of Nebraska Medical Center under contract with Lynx Therapeutics.

[medical citation needed] Telomere shortening and lower cell viability are observed after inhibition of telomerase activity in vitro.

[10] The efficacy of imetelstat was evaluated in IMerge (NCT02598661), a randomized (2:1), double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial in 178 participants with myelodysplastic syndromes.

[4] Randomization was stratified by prior red blood cell transfusion burden and by International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) risk group.