OrganTech Aims to Regenerate Hair and Teeth

Update: June 1, 2023

Japan: Global Hub for Hair and Tooth Regeneration

An interesting new interview with OrganTech’s confident representative director Dr. Miho Ogawa. Looks like the team is very serious about making Japan the global hub for hair and tooth generation. And they are keen to avoid repeating past fundraising and commercialization related mistakes. The other representative director is Takashi Kondo, who is in charge of business planning and fundraising. Ms. Ogawa is in charge of research and development and technology.

Lead scientist and OrganTech owner Dr. Takashi Tsuji remains fully involved of course. The company is scheduled to conduct clinical research within one to two years for practical application. With Japan’s fast track regulations, this treatment could still get to clinics in 2026 as was announced by Dr. Takashi Tsuji last year. Key quote:

“In the near future, this world-first, Japan-originated organ regenerative medicine management will shock the world and contribute to improving the QOL of many people.”

Tsuji Mouse Hair OrganTech
Human hair growing on mice via the work of Dr. Takashi Tsuji and his team at RIKEN.

Update: February 11, 2023

OrganTech: New name for Organ Technologies

Organtech
Organtech: hair follicle and other organ regeneration technologies.

After ending its partnership with Riken and Dr. Takashi Tsuji in 2021, Organ Technologies is back. It is renaming itself to OrganTech, and this time the founder himself is Dr. Tsuji. A little confusing, but read the next paragraph. OrganTech plans to start hair regeneration related clinical trials in 2024. And yet again they have a new website. They are also getting funding from Kobayashi Pharmaceutical.

According to the latest press release, it seems like founder Dr. Tsuji will remain the team leader and OrganTech is still affiliated with RIKEN. However, Dr. Tsuji cannot be officially titled CEO, since RIKEN does not allow its top scientists to be CEOs of venture firms. This last point was e-mailed to me by a reader.

I previously mentioned how Dr. Tsuji took over Organ Technologies’ debt in 2021 in order to prevent patent loss. He also announced that they plan to offer their hair multiplication treatment in 2026. So this new development means they are on schedule. Note that Japan has favorable regulations in relation to clinical trial speed when it comes to regenerative medicine.

They are also very serious about fundraising this time. On March 6th 2023, they plan to present their technology on Tokyo Innovative Business Day. On OrganTech’s website, it says that the company’s purpose is to “create functional organs.” They they emphasize the two main areas of Dr. Tsuji’s past work:

“Technologies that can contribute to hair regenerative medicine and dental regenerative medicine.”

Also of interest, the following patents are assigned to Organ Technologies. These now belong to OrganTech.

Jan 5, 2020

I have mentioned many times that Dr. Takashi Tsuji and his hair loss treatment protocol holds the best short-term prospects for a hair loss cure. Mr. Tsuji is working in partnership with RIKEN, Organ Technologies and Kyocera. The treatment can come to market faster because 1) It is autologous in nature; and 2) Clinical trials in Japan get finished faster due to favorable government regulations.

All four of these Japan-based partners have their own sites (in Japanese and English). So it is hard to keep a track of new developments.

Organ Technologies and Takashi Tsuji

Reader “Ben” recently found that Organ Technologies has updated its website (Edit: They replaced it with a new one in 2023. See top of post for latest updates). A goldmine of information is available on the new site. The hair regeneration page has a list of publications at the bottom. Apparently, the company has developed three generations of its technology over the years. Mostly via the work of Dr. Tsuji and RIKEN (in Kobe, Japan) it would be safe to assume.

I will add more to this post in the coming days, but wanted to start the discussion now. Please only post comments about Organ Technologies and the work of its partners in this post. All other comments can continue in the last post.

Organ Technologies Hair Regeneration Treatment.
Organ Technologies Hair Growth.

Reddit Oral Minoxidil Hair Growth Success Stories

I regularly update my old popular post on oral Minoxidil for hair loss. Almost every week there are interesting new stories and testimonials on low-dose oral Minoxidil (LDOM) growing hair in people. And the news media has become extremely interested in this subject.

However, in that post, I purposely neglected including links to Reddit before and after hair growth transformation stories. There are just too many to count. I have now made this post for that specific purpose.

The Most Efficacious Hair Loss Drugs Ranked

I feel like there are even more hair growth success stories in regards to oral Minoxidil than the gold standard oral Dutasteride (Avodart). Make sure to go through the numerous comments in my post on oral Dutasteride for hair loss reviews.

Note that Dutasteride is only officially approved to treat hair loss in Japan and South Korea. In the rest of the world, this enlarged prostate medication is used off-label to treat androgenic alopecia (male pattern hair loss).

Countering my increasing bias towards oral Minoxidil, a widely cited 2021 systemic review of 23 studies via meta-analysis found the following efficacy ranking for hair loss medications:

  1. 0.5 mg/d of oral dutasteride.
  2. 5 mg/d of oral finasteride.
  3. 5 mg/d of oral minoxidil.
  4. 1 mg/d of oral finasteride.
  5. 5% topical minoxidil.’
  6. 2% topical minoxidil.
  7. 0.25 mg/d of oral minoxidil.

I wish this analysis had also tried to include extra strength Minoxidil 10% or 15%. In any case, I would be curious to see a similar study that covers the years 2022 and 2023. Oral Minoxidil for hair loss only became popular in the US and Europe over the past two years. In Thailand (and, to a lesser extent, Australia), this popularity came much earlier.

Reddit Oral Minoxidil Hair Growth Stories

On Reddit Tressless, there are daily success stories of people regrowing hair while on oral Minoxidil. In most cases, people are taking 2.5 mg per day (like myself), though many take 5 mg per day or even more. Please talk to your doctor if you ever take this drug, especially if you have any pre-existing heart conditions.

Over the past year, I collected many of these success story links. Below is a list of some of the most inspiring transformations that oftentimes include extraordinary before and after photos. Make sure to swipe through all the images in each link, and not just see the first one.

In many cases, people were taking Finasteride or Dutasteride for a while too, but adding oral Minoxidil into the mix truly made the biggest difference. In some cases, a person got on two drugs around the same time, but I still counted the result as supportive of oral Minoxidil.

You can click on each of the images below and go through the original poster’s responses to comments and questions. This will give you a decent idea on what drug seemed to make the biggest impact on the hair regrowth.

Note that all of these people are likely legitimate. In many cases, I checked out their past posting history. Moreover, there is absolutely no financial benefit in someone promoting oral Minoxidil. If you use GoodRx in the US and select the generic option, low-dose oral Minoxidil will cost you less than $10 per month. Even cheaper than topical Minoxidil foam. I just do not see any financial incentive for people to push this medication over other alternatives.

If any of the below people post future updates, please feel free to add the relevant link in the comments to this post. Or, for that matter, if you see any new Reddit testimonial that blows your mind, feel free to share. Especially if the person is only taking low-dose oral Minoxidil and nothing else.

8 mos: oral (Du, Min), topical (Min, Ru, Ketoconazole), microneedling. NW7 for 7 years
by u/ClayPot357 in tressless

3 Month Progress – Fin & Oral Min
by u/tresslessthr0waway in tressless

Dut (2years) / RU58841 (5 months) / Oral Min (1 year)
by u/nuKaross in tressless

Update on hair, will be posting monthly! Nov 8 – Jan 14
by u/Hairevrywherebuthead in tressless

Progress Pics 25 y/o 2022-2023
by u/MMKK123451 in tressless

32 Sept 2021 – January 23 (18 months) – 5mg oral minoxidil, 1.5mm Microneedling 1 x wk using a pen, 0.5mg/day dutasteride
by u/West_Description1217 in tressless

4 Months Progress (1mg Fin, 5mg Oral Min & Nizoral 2x/week)
by u/djbaroud in tressless

2 Years On Oral Min and Oral Fin
by u/levinewill in tressless

Oral Fin/Min 6 month before and after
by u/minicoopj in tressless

Oral Fin/Min 6 month before and after
by u/minicoopj in tressless

(26 M) 9 months on oral minoxidil and oral finasteride
by u/Stock_Adeptness_9134 in tressless

Oral min 2.5mg closing in on 3 months
by u/_the_orange_box_ in tressless

It works. About a 1 year transformation.
by u/HarryBalsagna_ in tressless

6 months update: Dut 3x/week / oral min / dut+prp mesotherapy
by u/salsasanluis in tressless

[M30] 15 months progress on Oral Dutasteride and Sublingual Minoxidil
by u/Throwaway_no_hair in tressless

[24M] – 70 days progress on > daily oral fin (1mg) + daily topical and oral min (1.5mg)
by u/No-Bodybuilder4389 in tressless

My progress story for my hair loss treatment
by u/sohaibkkhan in tressless

3 months on oral minoxidil (1.25mg)
by u/0IsMyHer0 in tressless

Oral minoxidil works wonders!!!
by u/Affectionate-Fill319 in tressless

~6 months of chemicals and needles
by u/Competitive_Help_513 in tressless