AR Antagonist, Kintor Pharmaceutical, Pyrilutamide

Kintor Pharmaceutical from China

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A new Chinese company named Kintor Pharmaceutical is working on an interesting hair loss drug. It is extremly rare to hear about any Chinese company involved in hair loss research.

Very strange, considering the country’s rapid pace of scientific advancement and massive population. Moreover, Chinese men and women are nowadays balding at much faster rates than in the past.

Kintor Pharmaceutical and Hair Loss

Four days ago, China-based Kintor Pharmaceutical (also known as Suzhou Kintor Pharmaceuticals) got significant Chinese media coverage. This interest was related to the company’s prostate cancer, breast cancer and hair loss drugs. h/t reader “Bekoo”.

Earlier this month, Kintor Pharmaceutical also had a very successful IPO in Hong Kong.

While the company’s main focus seems to be its prostate cancer and breast cancer drugs, its androgenetic alopecia drug trials are also advancing rapidly. Their main androgen receptor blocking drug candidate is called pyrilutamide (KX-826) and it is applied to the scalp topically. The company’s proxalutamide drug slows or stops cancer cell growth by entirely inhibiting androgens.

Make sure to also read my past post on androgen receptor destruction.

Also to be noted, Cassiopea’s Breezula is an AR antagonist that is ahead of Kintor when it comes to product release date.

Pyrilutamide

The one disappointing news is that Kintor aims to take on Johnson & Johnson’s Minoxidil. This could mean that topical pyrilutamide is unlikely to be much better than Minoxidil. I hope I am wrong. Recently completed phase one trials in China proved that pyrilutamide is safe and causes no major side effects in humans.

Kintor is currently conducting phase 2 clinical trials for pyrilutamide on 160 men in China, and phase 1 trials on 30 men in the US. Phase 3 trials on 600 people in China, US and Japan are planned for as soon as 2021. I would guess that the US FDA and Japanese PMDA will never accept Phase 2 results from China as any kind of proof to proceed to Phase 3 trials in the US and Japan.

So how can the company proceed so fast in the US and Japan?

Below is the pipeline from the company’s website:

Kintor Pharma Pipeline
Kintor Pharma Androgenetic Alopecia and Prostate Cancer Pipeline.
Adipose-Derived Stem Cells (ADSC)

Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Constituent Extract

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It has been a while since I wrote a post related to adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and hair growth. Adipose cells are also called fat cells.

Adipose‐Derived Stem Cell Constituent Extract

A potentially groundbreaking new study from South Korea was published yesterday. Thanks to Chris and Joe who both e-mailed me with links. This study concluded that adipose‐derived stem cell constituent extract (ADSC‐CE) helps hair regrowth in patients with androgenetic alopecia.

Adipose-derived stem cell constituent extract (ADSC-CE) and hair growth.
Adipose-derived stem cell constituent extract (ADSC‐CE) treatment increased hair count and hair thickness in the study. © 2020 Tak/Lee/Cho/Kim — Stem Cells Translational Medicine, published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of AlphaMed Press.

According to the authors, this is the first time that ADSC‐CE and its benefits on hair growth have been demonstrated via a a randomized, double‐blind, vehicle‐controlled clinical trial. Many other past studies have shown the benefits of ADSC (often via intradermal injections) on male and female pattern hair loss sufferers.

This latest study was widely covered in the media, including by the Daily Mail and New Atlas. The trial was conducted at Busan (Pusan) National University Yangsan Hospital and led by Dr. Sang Yeoup Lee. The actual trial was completed in 2016, so I am not sure why results were delayed till 2020.

The study was published in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine. The famous Dr. Anthony Atala is editor-in-chief of  this journal. He is quoted as saying that this treatment offers hope to hair loss sufferers.

ADSC-CE Before and After Hair Growth.
ADSC-CE hair growth photo at 8 weeks and 16 weeks. One of the four results presented in the study.

Hair counts (+28.1%) and hair diameter (+14.2%) both increased substantially in 34 patients who completed the study. Original patient enrollment was 29 men and nine women. Encouragingly, these results persisted 16 weeks post treatment, with no major side effects. The treatment entailed twice‐daily self‐application of an ADSC‐CE topical solution all over the scalp.

The authors assumed that ADSC‐CE is likely to penetrate scalp tissue more than existing products that are manufactured using conditioned media (ADSC‐CM).

Adipose (Fat) Cells and Hair Growth

A lot evidence on the benefits of fat cell injections upon hair has been accumulating over the past decade. Even as far back as 1954, there was a study published suggesting a connection between scalp thickness, fat loss and balding.

I have written around 10 posts in the past that cover ADSC and closely related subjects, although none in the past couple of years.

For example:

  • See my past post on Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF) enhanced adipose transplantation and the STRAAND clinical trials.
  • And on Advanced adipose-derived stem cell protein extract (AAPE).
  • Also see my past posts on Kerastem and the company’s STYLE clinical trials.
  • I have also analyzed important work from Dr. Valerie Horsley’s lab regarding adipocytes and their essential role in  hair follicle regeneration. Last year, I also discussed fat layer loss and tightness in balding scalps.

Hair Loss Cure News Blog. Hair Cloning and Multiplication for Baldness.