Microneedling, Follica and Other Brief Items

Thanks to commentator “Karl” for posting a link to a new study from China regarding electrodynamic microneedling in the comments to my Indian microneedling post from August.

Microneedling and Follica

Yet again, microneedling seems to lead to significantly increased hair growth when used in conjunction with Minoxidil versus when using just Minoxidil by itself.

However, even more interesting, microneedling by itself led to more hair growth than Minoxidil by itself in this study. Totally crazy that wounding works better than one of the only two ever FDA approved hair loss treatments. The other being Finasteride. Of course more such results need to be emulated before this becomes believable.

Follica has for a long time claimed that skin disruption in and of itself leads to new de novo hair follicle growth. In the India microneedling post, “Karl” made an interesting lengthy comment related to the above study, and it is worth a read in its entirety. I will paste part of it related to needling depth here:

“Personal observation: that difference of 1.5mm to 2.5mm might seem small, but if you’ve ever done it, you know that it’s HUGE. 1.5mm hurts a lot already, and for some people is borderline unbearable. 2.5mm is getting into torture level lol. Pity they weren’t more specific about their procedure. The question of depth, wounding, and scarring seems an open question in research afaik and is discussed frequently on forums”.

Other Hair Loss News this Month

— In August, I covered groundbreaking new research related to successful hair regeneration in mice. The work was led by scientists from USC (in particular, Dr. Mingxing Lei and Dr. Cheng-Ming Chuong). For some reason, a new CNBC article on this now relatively old news appeared in October and became the most widely covered hair related story this month. Three different people posted the exact same CNBC link in the comments to the last post. To be fair, even people on Reddit Futurology seemed to think that this was a new development.

— Samumed added a new page on its site regarding the status of each of its clinical trials.

— Replicel’s hair loss work covered in Forbes magazine.

Fecal matter transplant regrows hair in two alopecia areata patients.

— Dr. David Saceda has been responding to questions by “Tim” in my messotherapy with dutasteride post.

94 thoughts on “Microneedling, Follica and Other Brief Items”

  1. Interesting about microneedling. I know it is used as a micro-wounding facial procedure to help the skin produce more collagen; it’s something I’d love to try if I had more money. Its use for hair regeneration makes sense to me though I am pleasantly surprised that microneedling alone works better than minoxidil alone.

  2. The trouble with hair transplants is that they irreverisbly alter your head, such that the RepliCell product may no longer work for you. At a minimum, you won’t get the hair back on the back of your head with it. It can only restore function to hair follicles which still exist but are otherwise depleted (and will live alongside the new hair, which could be a problem).

    I don’t know much about microneedling but it still sounds invasive, like dry needling. Maybe not a problem in practice but I dunno, it might add up over the years.

    Are we still expecting RepliCell in 3rd quarter 2018? I’d rather not be patient 0 but that seems to be about the right time for me. Are we seeing progress on the USC research regarding lactic acid production besides patents? Any DIY methods or insights inspired by it?

  3. Admin, I was curious about the details of this latest study so I found the full study. There seems to be quite a few studies now suggesting that micro-needling works however the details are a bit confusing. In this study, electrodynamic micro-needling simply means an electric dermpen with 9 needles and a .25 mm diameter head. There were 12 treatments, every other week, with needle depth ranging from 1.5mm to 2.5mm until the scalp was reddish and local hemorrhaging occurred. Deeper and more vigorous than in the Dhurat studies. In the group subjected to micro-needling plus minox, 2 ml of minox was applied at treatment for the purpose of increased absorption. Mean increase in non-vellus hair was 24.1 in minox only (MX), 20.5 in micro-needle only (MN), and 34.7 with both (Both). Change in vellus hair density was: -5.4, 3.4, and 4.2 respectively. So while the increase in density using Both was clearly superior, the MN only group was inferior to MX alone for non-vellus hair. And while approx 5% of MX and MN had “obvious improvement”, the Both group was at 35%. In the “moderate improvement” group, MX was 44%, MN was 28%, and Both was at 60%. This means that 95% of the Both group had moderate to obvious improvement. I’m not sure how to reconcile everything, but given what we know, the take away for me is that if you micro-needle weekly you should keep it to mild reddening only and no blood. If you micro-needle deeper and/or harder, you should go every other week at least to allow for recovery. I think any results reveal later rather than sooner. And I think I would add that using minox for most users during treatment certainly does not hurt. FYI In my experience, 1.5 mm with a good md pen does not hurt in the least bit, infinitely better than a roller. I hope this helps at least a few of you trying to hang on.

    1. Thanks pinotq, but I am a bit confused (have not yet read the full study).

      How can total density increase be higher for “microneedling only” versus “Minox only”, but the opposite is true when it comes to non-vellus (terminal) hair count? Are you saying that vellus (barely visible) hair count has a bigger impact on density and that then turns the table in favor of “microneedling only” over “Minox only”?

      FYI: Reference final results statement from Abstract:

      The mean improvement in total hair density from baseline to 24 weeks was 18.8/cm2 in group 1, 23.4/cm2 in group 2, and 38.3/cm2 in group 3. Group 1 is Minox only, group 2 is Microneedling only, and group 3 is both together.

      1. Regarding the Chinese study, I wouldn’t say that it shows microneedling alone to be particularly better than minoxidil alone:

        – Most importantly, methodological issues with this study: N=60 patients isn’t tiny and it’s great they did this study with that many people, but it’s still small, and you have only n=20 in each group. Procedures aren’t clear. Measurements aren’t so precisely defined. No control group. You could definitely quibble a lot about their statistics. So others might disagree, but my opinion is that as a general guide, the study is fine enough for the hair loss world, but I wouldn’t use it to make any precise statements about microneedling vs. minoxidil based only on this study or put too much weight on the specific mean hair growth numbers which they give.

        – About your specific question, they divided hair count into vellus, non-vellus, and total hair counts. They defined vellus as <40μm in diameter.

        – Even using the study at face value, results of treatment with minoxidil alone vs. with microneedling alone are more or less similar. Non-vellus hair count higher for minox. Vellus hairs are down with minox, up with microneedling. Non-vellus hair thickness increased a lot more with minoxidil than with microneedling. Total hair count higher for microneedling. Again, I wouldn't bet too much on precision of the numbers, particularly because of the range.

        – About the range, as with most of this type of studies, the range is big. The results for minoxidil alone has a particularly high standard deviation for total hair count, which seems to confirm lots of previous research that minoxidil response is highly variable; it's really the ultimate YMMV hair treatment.

        – To me, that seems to make a toss-up between minoxidil alone or microneedling alone. I do see your point, though, that the idea that simple microneedling could even be in the general range of results for one of the big 3 standard treatments is funny. (And as well, I'd guess that microneedling alone would probably be better than keto alone. To be fair, many of these treatments would seem to be best combined for synergistic effects (hopefully?!), but I agree that it would be ironic if microneedling alone – in whatever form turns out to be best – is indeed better than 2 out of the big 3 lol!)

        – Interestingly, minoxidil+microneedling also has a fairly high 1SD range. I'd guess based on the relatively lower range for microneedling alone that the high range for minoxidil+microneedling is due to the wide differences patients have in their response to topical minoxidil.

        – I think sample size is too small, procedures not precisely defined, and the study is too quirky to really get too excited about analyzing it in this much detail, but still… with all those caveats, it is interesting to note that there's a rough equivalence in terms of total hair count increase where the top 1SD of minoxidil-only, the top 1SD of microneedling-only, and the bottom 1SD of minoxidil+microneedling are all just about the same at around +28/cm2. Again, I wouldn't go too crazy using this study as a precise guide, but it does point to the idea that adding microneedling to your minoxidil regimen is worth a try regardless of whether or not minoxidil alone gives you a good response.

        1. Well said Karl. There is enough evidence to suggest that adding micro-needling to your routine will give the average responder a good shot of at least maintaining with a little boost, especially given that it is about a 20 minute process every other week and no pain if you invest in a decent pen.

      2. I will send you the study but, as I understand it, they are adding the vellus and non-vellus hair counts together to get “total hair density”. So that summary result statement, while maybe technically correct, doesn’t paint a true picture of minox vs. micro-needle only. Still, group 3 is another very positive outcome for the combination treatment. Yet, with the mounting clinical reports of positive success, I don’t understand why there aren’t a ton of positive anecdotal accounts from do-it-at-homers.

    2. Pinotq: ” In my experience, 1.5 mm with a good md pen does not hurt in the least bit”

      You’re tough :-)

      I do 1.5mm electrodynamic microneedle, vibrating pen style, using fresh needles each time (i.e., not previously used needles which might be dulled). I couldn’t find the exact product they use in this study to compare (it’s made by Yuanxing Biological Technology, Guangzhou, maybe someone else has better luck searching it), but I’m guessing my pen is the same.

      I do 1.5mm. I don’t use pain killer, but it hurts. You can do 1.5mm lightly, not putting it in fully, and it causes much less pain. But if you’re putting it in fully – straight angle, all needles going in to full depth of 1.5mm, no hairs cushioning it – then it hurts a lot. I have to steel myself to do it fully, because sub-consciously I’m fighting against myself, trying to cheat and reduce the impact. The pain varies by location: some parts of the scalp are ok, but the sensitive areas really hurt. I’ve wondered how much the level of pain corresponds to the level of balding in each area.

      For me, 1.5mm seems to be my limit without pain killer.

      I just tried 2.5mm. I couldn’t finish my full scalp. I managed a few places, but it’s extremely painful. Even the least sensitive places hurt a lot, and the more sensitive areas were screaming, tears-in-the-eyes pain. If there’s a gun to my head, then yes, I’d be able to do it without pain killer. But under non-emergency conditions, I can’t.

      Pinotq, if you have no problems to do 2.5mm with no pain killer… damn, you’re tough! :-) Put a video on youtube. I’d love to see it.

      1. Karl, I only do 1.5 mm and I do it very gently. The experience you describe is what I felt with a roller. The deepest I have gone is 2.0 and that was a little challenging. But I am sticking to 1.5 because there is little chance of scarring and it is a routine I can easily stick to. I base much of what I try to do on the science here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3921236/
        I use the MD Pen. My thought is that one of the most important variables is amount of wounding vs. recovery time.

        1. Interesting. Here are two different techniques I found:

          Ex 1:
          https://youtu.be/ncilRiEL5a0?t=166
          The doctor moves the pen around the scalp without lifting.

          Ex 2:
          https://youtu.be/xvTIgjoQTOU?t=3 (the MD Pen you have, I think)
          The doctor lifts the pen, puts it on a spot briefly, lifts and moves to another spot.

          Pen is better than roller, for sure; all the obvious reasons about tearing the skin plus the benefit of thousands of microholes you can make because of the pen’s rapid pumping. And on a practical basis, electric pen is just easier to use.

          But even then, there’s a big practical issue about how to microneedle if you have anything longer than shortly cropped hair. It’s been discussed a lot on forums.

          For me, on the completely bald area at my temples where there’s no hair, I can do it without lifting like Ex. 1. But for everywhere else, it’s impossible to do Ex. 1 style no-lifting because my hair gets in the way. Tearing the hair is a big risk and we’re all desperately trying to save every strand we still have, so you really have to pay attention. I think you have to do something like Ex. 2 where you lift-move-push, lift-move-push, and even then you have to rearrange hair so you don’t harm it and so it doesn’t block the pen. I can’t see any way to do it on hairy areas as in Ex.1 without lifting.

          I just tested again. I found that Ex. 1 without lifting is less painful and I can do 1.5mm “very gently” as you say. I can even increase to 2mm and still not so bad. But when I do 1.5mm Ex. 2 style with the lift-move-push, it hurts; if I don’t cheat, then there’s no way to do it “very gently”.

          At least in my case, it’s because the no-lifting style of Ex. 1 allows me to glide the pen over the skin; even if I’m pushing it, it’s still not really going in to its full depth. How deep it goes in is constantly varying as I move, the angle changes, etc, but it’s not full depth. With Ex. 2 style of lift-move-push, it goes in much closer to full depth.

          Btw, when I was just looking this up, I saw the MD Pen company site sells it for US $998 now in the America?! Crazy overpriced.

          Anyway. I like the microneedling, and as you say, it’s not big investment of time nor money. For sure worth combining with minoxidil (although I think it could be increasing systemic absorption, so it’s worth monitoring your heartrate and blood pressure if you’re concerned about that).

          Also possibly worth combining with home PRP treatments; you could just microinject yourself with PRP without microneedling, but one idea is to microinject the PRP plus also rub it on the microneedled skin. Who knows how helpful it is, but there is some logic to it and you might as well cover all possibilities (plus there’s no additional cost once you have your equipment since your blood is free lol), so I’m now doing both PRP microinjections and micropen+PRP rubbing.

          1. Karl, Just realized I never saw your original post referred to in this piece because it was the very last post in an earlier piece. I move the pen w/o lifting. I wash my hair, comb back, and then move the pen side to side in a 1 to 1.5 inch swath going backward. If I feel it hanging up or coming out of good contact with the scalp, I Iift up, part the hair, and begin again from that location. I overlap each path backward and I overlap each side to side row in the path or “column” backward. I can feel when I am not exactly perpendicular and adjust. Because of the amount of overlap, I feel like I get good solid coverage. If the research article I posted above is correct in needing at least 200 channels per sq inch, according to my calculations, I can do that in 5.16 seconds with the MD pen which creates 15,000 channels per sq inch per minute. ( I made an investment as the first 2 pens I bought (Dr. Pen) were shit!) Also, I tried 2mm and it does not hurt that much with the pen with a gentle glide but it created more trauma than just a mild reddening. I’m proceeding with the logic that needling somewhere between .5mm and 1.5mm creates no scarring and works by getting the upper level of the dermis communicating with the scalp, whereas, 2mm to 2.5mm is more for injecting something (minox, PRP, Acell, or whatever Follica brings to the table, etc) directly to the follicle level and should only be done once every 3-4 weeks………..the Chinese study suggesting 2 weeks. Of course, I realize that you still get the benefit of far better absorption of minox even at depths of .5mm to 1.5mm.

          2. pretty much same here. I have been microneedling with 1mm and it hurts. I would try 1,5 now, but I wouldnt go for 2,0-2,5 without local anesthetics.
            I noticed that the front part is more sensible, maybe because its sensible nerves come from the trigeminus, one of the cranial nerves, and the back from spinal nerves, thats my theory.you can google, head zones trigeminus, to see the areas

      2. Karl just to add my little experience, I occasionally use a 1.5mm roller on my scalp, face and body (stretch marks) and don’t find it painful at all, I actually quite enjoy it :). I roll until I see redness and then stop, it tends to heal within 1 day and does wonders for my skin. Not sure about results on scalp as I have a shaved head with smp but can’t hurt.

  4. There is no question that wounding works to regrow hair, given the amount of studies that show it to be the case, so I’m no longer surprised when studies like this one from China pop up. The depth, diameter, etc. all seem to be crucial factors and I’ve no doubt that Follica and their future competitors will answer all these questions and master the technique.

    Also, “fecal matter transplant”

    imsickenedbutcurious.jpg

  5. thanks for the shout out, I’m weary of suggesting again who knows what’ll happen but replicel might be wayyy under valued if shiseido pulls off photos and international attention next year at RCH-01 market release.

    1. Emailed them a couple of months ago but got no response. They claim the new skin can grow hair normally, but do not mention AGA specifically.

      Guess IF it works as advertised, we may be able to get new scalp skin and therefore new scalp hair.

      1. There is a phone number on that link you posted. I got no response either. Theoretically you are 100% correct I can’t imagine why they haven’t even thought or mentioned aga

      2. I think PolarityTE is completely out of the picture, that we are interested in.
        SkinTE (cutaneous regeneration) is their lead product and OsteoTE (osseous regeneration) is the next in line.
        There is no anti-AGA specific treatment in their pipeline.
        Besides, can someone describe to me what technology they are bringing in, ’cause there is just vagueness at least in their site?

        1. If their skin product does what they say and has cleared all FDA hurdles, then the technology for endless donor hair exists and can be brought to market immediately. The whole key is whether their product is legit (shady looking marketing video IMO), and whether they have someone managing that company with any type of vision for making money and helping all possible people with their products. I assume their techniques are proprietary, but lmk if otherwise.

          1. Nah, SkinTE cannot be applied for AGA.
            In my opinion, it’s less of what they make it be.
            They’re just going after paper.
            That’s Ok.

  6. I’m very interested in sisheido. It’s nice that they are stating release date in 2018. Now if this can grow back lots of hair and stop further loss then I’ll be booking a ticket to tokyo. 30% growth would be great but I think the average was like 15 to 20% regrowth if I remember correctly.

      1. Issue here is how long do we need to stay in Japan..for hair biopsy, lab cell multiplication and then back for injection. If they can accomplish this in a week that would be ideal. I just sisheido did their trials here but we all know the fda sucks and could care less about us mpb sufferers.

      2. Shesido will release data in 3rd or 4th quarter of year 2018; They never said that they will release it in Japan, in 2018, soon after results. It should go under japan FDA trials if the data is effective and viable for preventing hair loss and then plan to bring it into market with profit oriented business plan!

    1. That was based on limited injections because phase 1 was just to make sure the new cells did not turn into cancer cells or the like. Lifting the limit and doing the trial and error adjustments from phase 1 will make phase 2 results more interesting.

    2. The 15% regrowth were the top responders in the Replicel trial. Though it was a safety trial so with multiple injections (as shisheido is doing) it hopefully will give some better numbers in terms of regrowth.

      1. I think the ceo of replicel said they plan to release it in Japan in 2018. Then he said it would take a few more years to release it in USA due to fda.

      2. Personally, I’m not holding out for Shiseido to offer regrowth that would amount to a functional cure.

        Aderans’ method was quite similar and proved only valuable to stop hairloss, but was not sufficient in regrowth and that wasn’t good enough to bring it to market.

        RepliCel appears to be much the same scenario, but Shiseido seems to feel that the market for (seemingly) permanent maintenance (which is a small market) is worth it and I am fine with that.

        1. I was really bummed out when aderans shut its doors down on their trials. Permanent maintenance is a cure for all nw1 to nw3. Stupid that they didn’t cash out on that market. Nw1 and 2 would halt hairloss and live their life while nw3 and even 4 could get dense fue and practically have a nw1 or 2. Something tells me they couldn’t even achieve maintenance. They might have hyped up their results for funding or whatever. If they really had a working treatment that could halt hairloss for life or heck 20 yrs that is a game changer and better than anything we have now.

          1. I’m not sure, re, if they had even managed to amplify the mesenchymal stem cells.
            Thus far, Tsuji is the only who has claimed sufficient mesenchymal (DP) cell proliferation, afai.

  7. alot of speculations and %… however no one here cares to share one single photo which shows that 30% regrowth…
    living with hope is one thing, bro-science another… I am not favor of any product unless they show photos…

    1. I assume you’re talking about Shiseido? I’d suggest re-reading MJones’ post if you are.

      and no, you are not in favour of any of these products regardless.

      Because as we all know, everyone wants photos so that when they see them, they can scream about how it’s “fake” and they’re obviously lying to the FDA and equivalent agencies.

  8. My dermatologist don’t want to prescribe Propecia…I don’t believe that…! He says that “soon there will be better treatments…I have talked with colleagues and say that other dermatologist opt for lower doses or directly for not prescribing this drug…Times are really changing? That’s a good sign!

      1. Your derm probably just said that to calm you worries down and if it’s a woman she probably thinks baldnes isn’t something serious. Go to another derm or your general doctor and an rx for Propecia and save your hair. Some doctors are just ignorant about hairloss.

    1. I agree that their will soon be better treatments.

      I also think your dermatologist doesn’t actually know anything about developing tech and is using that as an excuse for not doing his job.

    2. Time to find a different dermatologist. What a stupid thing to say to a patient. Give him bad reviews on the doctor review sites.

  9. Tsuji news from HLT:
    NewHello! I am Fuji Maru Kagurazaka.
    I live in Tokyo, Japan. Thank you.

    This PDF file is introduced as a news release on Organ Technologies Inc. web site on October 10, 2017.Organ Technologies’ website recently renewed the entire site.Also note that on the following pages, clinical trials for humans will begin in 2018.

    “Reference material”
    “Our business model in hair regeneration medical hair regeneration medicine”

    In hair regeneration medicine, it is an autograft that collects stem cells from the patient’s own normal hair follicle, processes the hair follicle primordium, and transplants it to the patient himself.

    In male pattern baldness, at a medical institution, a small number of hair follicles are collected, the contract manufacturing company separates the stem cells from the hair follicles, cultures and amplifies them, and produces regenerated hair follicle base by the organogenic base method To do.

    Package this regenerated hair follicle base, transport it to a medical institution, and transplant treatment regenerative hair follicle base group to a patient in a medical institution.

    We are currently pursuing research and development with a view to clinical application of hair follicle regeneration as the world’s first organ regeneration in humans in 2018.

    But this PDF file is scheduled to start in 2019, is not it?

    The matter of renewal of Organ Technologies Inc.’s website is posted on my blog.

    2017/09/14 06: 00
    “Organ Technologies official website renewal! “

    1. Not really news, I’m afraid — it’s what they’ve said from the start.

      The trials are to begin in fiscal year 2018, which for them goes into March, 2019.

  10. We are currently pursuing research and development with a view to CLINICAL APPLICATION of hair follicle regeneration as the world’s first organ regeneration IN HUMANS IN 2018. That’s the new news. Thanks.

    1. I’m just going out on a limb here…but what do you think are the chances they run into problems during trials? lol, It’s nice to dream about though that this will be readily available in the near future…but most likely not. That doesn’t mean I think it won’t accomplish what they want in the end, just put it at 5% it happens by 2020/21 as in availability to us.

      1. On the one hand, Paul is exceedingly optimistic to the point of cope, and I’m doubtful there is any real new information and their “2018” probably still means the fiscal year (which they planned to begin the late part of) and not calendar year; puts the trial in 2019, most likely.

        On the other hand, the whole “oh, there’s no way they’ll be on time!” is nothing more than doubt for the sake of it and there is currently no reason to believe they can’t meet that timeline.

        None of this matters, though — since no one here is actually going to have it done when it first comes out, anyway.

          1. Because when they realize how colossally expensive it will be, especially when combined with travel expenses, and the inevitable waiting list — no sane or non-rich individual is going to do it or put themselves in such debt to do it.

            This is also going to be done by transplant surgeons initially (for years); people who are used to making 5-digit figures per operation. Despite what some starry-eyed hopefuls wish were true, a procedure that offers unlimited hair is not something they will charge LESS for. An FUE or FUT that could give even a NW3 respectable improvements can easily cost upward of 20k. It’s just simple supply and demand.

            There is no way Tsuji will cost anything less than 30 – 50k, and that’s not including travel — you can bet on it.

            1. I estimate it will be closer to 30-35k including trip. Still, this will place it out of most peoples reach for sure.

            2. Remember that there are surgeons all over the world ranging widely in price because every new medical technology that appears soon gets copied, ripped off and re-packaged…
              I agree it’s going to be expensive on release but prices will quickly drop as they try to capitalise and expand before someone else does…

              1. LASIK still runs about 5 – 10 thousand dollars (US) for both eyes.

                You can find surgeons who do it for as low as 300 per eye, but you get what you pay for. It’s the same with any cosmetic surgery; hair transplants included.

                Now, you’re no doubt right that it will eventually drop to an affordable price, but I don’t see any reason to believe that it will be “quickly” — unless you consider 5 – 10 years “quick”.

                With all of the logistics of the initial version of the treatment, there are plenty of reasons to be certain it will be expensive and few reasons to believe those factors will be swiftly eliminated.

  11. I think the coolest thing about Tsuji labs is they can expand and shrink the size of the bulb itself. Having a transplant with thick roots makes it better than it already was.

  12. @Thatguy: what does it have to do with screaming fake. If u have a real cure or as such, you wouldnt scare putting out 100s of photos… it has been over 10years for me, started it off with desmond, hellouser at BTT, all we heard was such bold claims.
    if yo all as old as me, you would understand why claims/words aint matter anymore.
    and it doesnt matter how much you alter with lighting as long as u improve advanced NW5 to NW1 or 2..
    also it doesnt make sense to have a magnifying glass to check if 1 or 2 hair popping up and saying yes we have a cure…
    my point is simple. if you claim something then u need a photo.

    1. There is nothing out of the ordinary with companies like Follica, RepliCel, etc. in their not showing you photos because you don’t matter. You just think it’s weird because you have a particular interest in this and follow it closely.

      PureTech’s “Gelesis” weight-loss drug just passed its pivotal trial and is on its way to market in the next couple years. There are also no pictures of its effects and only data available to the public, and it’s going to be way more popular than hairloss treatments.

      The FDA are who matters. They see all the relevant information and pass judgement on it and you get to see it in action when and if it is approved.

      Legit companies with integrity and not desperate for every investor cent don’t put all their stuff on the table like a bunch of morons for competitors to see — they give it to the powers that be and show it off when it’s ready to go to market.

  13. Just a quick note: Allergan has updated the Seti trial. No longer recruiting, April 5th 2018 for the end of data collection, June 5th for the readout.

    1. The following statement could imply that Aclaris have their hands onto something solid, and want to secure their interests.

      “These Japanese patents further bolster the steadily growing worldwide protection Aclaris has acquired for its JAK drug development program for hair loss disorders.”

      1. Admin, whether this is a positive sign for AGA, honestly I don’t know. But surely it is a sign that Aclaris know that there’s potential for Jak inhibitors, related to a variety of hairloss related scenarios.

  14. Alkaline Ceramidase 1 Protects Mice from Premature Hair Loss by Maintaining the Homeostasis of Hair Follicle Stem Cells.

    Abstract
    Ceramides and their metabolites are important for the homeostasis of the epidermis, but much remains unknown about the roles of specific pathways of ceramide metabolism in skin biology. With a mouse model deficient in the alkaline ceramidase (Acer1) gene, we demonstrate that ACER1 plays a key role in the homeostasis of the epidermis and its appendages by controlling the metabolism of ceramides. Loss of Acer1 elevated the levels of various ceramides and sphingoid bases in the skin and caused progressive hair loss in mice. Mechanistic studies revealed that loss of Acer1 widened follicular infundibulum and caused progressive loss of hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) due to reduced survival and stemness. These results suggest that ACER1 plays a key role in maintaining the homeostasis of HFSCs, and thereby the hair follicle structure and function, by regulating the metabolism of ceramides in the epidermis.

    1. Please read the first paragraph of this blog post!!!

      Also read the contents of the link you posted on October 13th in the last post’s comments.

      Unbelievable.

    2. I wish we could all read an article that states that we discovered how to cure baldness, it works on humans svd it will be released this year. That would be the best not we discovered this approach in a lab and one day it could cure baldness.

  15. Guys, couldn’t find it on the forum anywhere but what are our thoughts on Evolis, the Australian FGF-5 product?

    Has pretty strong positive reviews…

  16. ok, I’ll stop after this but I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately.

    according to filings activity the former CEO of repilcel has 1,534,000 shares meaning at one point his $11 million net worth was depreciated to today’s levels around $600k that’s a big loss. If shiseido rocks the world next year by press release of replicel’s product REPCF is – as you know fundamentally correlated.. and could be positively effected.

    Replicel is worth .38 cents right now. it’s all time high 2010 was $40.00!! .. without a cure at market … that’s one hundred + times ROI..$1,000 to $100,000 etc.

    I may be getting ahead of myself but it’s hard to turn a blind eye.

    1. Yeah…they’ve diluted the stock many times so your math is way off. They’ve also had multiple reverse stock splits because it’s stock value is essentially worthless

      1. The $40 dollar valuation was a run-up based on hype leading up to the release of their clinical trial results. But if you graph the stock price since, it looks like a down hill ski slope that has flat lined. From a financial perspective, there is absolutely no indication of anything positive getting factored into their market value, which would include, as you indicate, the correlation to Shiseido. I’m not saying Shiseido can’t surprise, but if they do, there is zero indication based on REPCF.

        1. I have bought some large replicel at .30ish cents. I realize its speculative but its skin treatment could be a huge money maker.

          1. I still think it’s a good trade. Replicel sold asia to shiseido but they still own rights to the rest of the world, another detail I clearly remember reading is that shiseido’s research would mutually benefit replicel which is why shiseido was wanting to sue replicel because they didn’t spend any money on R&D effictively piggy back riding shiseido’s efforts and using their achievement to US and Europe.

            Bottom line is there is a fundamental trade set up to arbitrage the IP. Shiseido’s technology is an alteration of replicel’s but they still have a mutual agreement. A reverse stock split doesn’t do anything but rearrange the total shares. If you buy a stock at .50 cents and it increases to $5 per share your .50 cents = $5 period

  17. It’s fantastic news that SkinTE is approved; a good day for stem cell therapy. I know they plan to move into other cosmetic markets including hair regeneration, but that would be years away yet.

    Not stopping any cueballs from screaming about how it still must be “fake”, I see.

    1. This is excellent news for burn victims. As bad as hair loss is for us nothing is worse than having your face and or body burned and deformed. Nothing you can do to fix that. Now this approved treatment can help those individuals. Hopefully our day will come soon enough. The progression is leaning that way :)

  18. if CRISPR somehow goes through and people manage to work it out, trust me you will have much bigger worries than balding.

    From a man of science, I will be skeptical and say lets not screw with our genes..

    1. What? I don’t know of any “men of science” who think screwing with our genes is inherently bad.

      The potential for that to eliminate hereditary diseases, birth defects, and improve physical attributes for literally every human born from it is fantastic — if being born doesn’t have to be the biggest lotto in the universe anymore, then it shouldn’t be.

    2. Gene editing is inevitable regardless of your opinion. Once the technology is available to mankind inequality will be greater than ever before. Those with resources will be greatly superior genetically from those without which will further increase their resources. Together with the advent of AI it will crush low income society. I am not against this since I plan on having money. Better start building wealth or youll be derelict. Hard truth.

  19. Hunger increases hair
    A recent Brazilian study revealed that the hunger hormone ghrelin hormone is directly related to hair growth.
    Brazilian scientists tested two groups of mice, restricting group 1 foods, while the second group mice continued to eat normally.
    The scientists found that mice that ate 60 percent of their natural diets lost half of their weight within six months. Moreover, the thickness of their skins increased, and the length and density of their hair and the overall length of the blood vessels in the skin increased.
    They said the changes were caused by mice adapting to a new eating regimen, knowing that they were losing less energy to maintain their body temperature, which in turn led to the growth of their hair.

    The scientists confirmed that the results obtained also apply to humans.
    Hormones play a big role in our lives and may force us to feel illogical. Let me introduce one of these hormones, the “leptin hormone, and the hormone ghrelin,” the hunger hormones that control our appetite. Leptin is a hormone that is made in fat cells and helps to reduce appetite, while the hormone gerlin is an appetite suppressant and plays a large role in weight gain. The proportion of leptin in the thinner and increases in overweight people, says the nutrition expert, physician Mary Dalman of the University of California, that overweight people have immunity against leptin.

    1. Good find about histogen but her credibility is pretty much down the drain. Only plus about it is she starting trials here in the states. 2020 perhaps in mexico? This trial is going to be 2 years long? I don’t know this should have been out in 2015. She better have a perfected the crap out of hsc and it better show 4 nwd levels of regrowth to make up for all the disappointment she caused us. Nw5 to nw2 results. Maybe she will be at the hair loss conference and release new pics.

    2. Good find i visit their website every week bit had skipped a few. This is the treatment i am most looking forward to.

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