18th Meeting of the European Hair Research Society (EHRS)

I was hoping to see many mentions on Twitter about the recently ended AHRS meeting in Orlando that I discussed in my last post. However, coverage has been sorely lacking. In contrast, the European Hair Research Society’s 18th Annual Meeting in Italy is getting significantly more coverage.

European Hair Research Society (EHRS) 18th Meeting

The EHRS 18th annual conference just started today, and will end on May 20th. Much more news is expected from there over the next several days.

Some highlights so far:

  • Dr. Ramon Grimalt from Spain posted the below interesting photo from a presentation by Dr. Yuliya Ovcharenko on Latanaprost and androgenetic alopecia (AGA). Note that Latanoprost is very closely related to Bimatoprost, which I have covered before. Both are prostamide F2α analogs.

Latanoprost and hair loss

76 thoughts on “18th Meeting of the European Hair Research Society (EHRS)”

  1. Great to see so many conferences! What is this Vatican Conference? Really!? Religion and Stem Cell Science? LOL!!! And is Samumed becoming a serious Anti Aging Research Company entering into Phase 3? Wow this year is big! … Admin I told you from now on every week at least one big Story! :-) Good for your blog!

    1. Virtually every week there has been a decent news story or development to cover ever since I started this blog:-)

  2. I used bimapotrost back in 2015 with no effect at all and that stuff was expensive for a little bottle. To be fair it was latisse so maybe if they formulate it better for aga it could potentially work. Farjo and higgins have been around since cots and cristiano. Looks like theu are still at it for rejuvenating hairs. Hopefully someday soon we will have our new hair loss treatment…..

      1. Hi Derek I used what champy used Latisse brand name…not sure what % it was…I put it on my crown and temple. I lost hair on my temple putting it on…

        1. Lumigan (0,03) works Very Well. I tried It. You have To Buy this collyrium that is cheaper And more concentated.

  3. Its been ~6 weeks since Aclaris trials began. They must know whether it works or not. I am diligently waiting for The News, whether it works or not. They know now just need to have the info go public.

      1. I had read that AGA data won’t be released until early 2019. This may change depending on how the trials go, but I wouldn’t count on any news until the trials are completed :/

        1. We will know it soon. They always give an update on their investor webcasts. Would be really cool if they finally solve it. Either way, I will get a hair system. I dont actually know why I spent the last 2 years completely sad and depressed. It would be way better to wait with a full head of hair. The hair systems are so avanced that you cannot even detect that it is a hair system.

          1. Roy. Agree. we will know soon from conference call or speech. No way the data stays secret for a year. They either stop trials from lack of results NOw OR they mention it works.

            Can’t blame you for opting for a hair system as it’s just for 2 years if all goes well. Good luck.

            I should have become a famous Rocker then I would still be like 18. I just think, really think JAK blocks an enzyme and we get all hair. It’s that simple. Get the Aclaris ointment (if it works) then all our hair comes back.

  4. Nasa is always a strong believer for JAK. I am curious what he would have to say if things wont come out the way he wanted

    1. I appreciate “have-a-go chemistry” as this is how a lot of drugs were originally invented, but if there was something in it then why didn’t Shiseido buy the Aclaris lotion instead of Replicel’s RCH-01? Follow the money. The money leads to Shiseido.

      1. I’m notorious for my vehement skepticism against JAK for similar reasons. Contradictory claims made by Aclaris as excuses for its failure in experiments where it SHOULD have worked for AGA previously. The theoretical basis for why this would do anything for AGA in the first place just isn’t there.

        I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it.

  5. @Scott: yes I agree with follow the money approach, however look at RCH 01 trials. they are now at phase2 like forever. Phase1 results was very poor (I know thats for safety but still).

    I think Replicel board gave an internal msg either formulate something that actually works or funding goes somewhere else. Replicel is a BIG company. In other words if they had something, even one picture, it would have been leaked to whole press.

    Thats why Replicel trials will take forever to complete because they are not just there. mediocre treatments wont make any bucks at this economy. As you can see snake oil ads are diminished to ground zero

  6. @donitello

    Replicel is a very small company, one could consider it to be really just an R&D (research and development) company where by they just stay with the technology and research side of things with very little interest in actually selling anything other then licencing agreements, in theory it keeps costs way down, and minimalizes any risk to the company in the long run.

    Shiseido on the other hand is a multinational company, any they won’t leak an image early, why would they? And they probably have a gag order on Replicel, since really it’s their technology now, it’s interesting to note that when Replicel recently did their deal with China the hair loss “cure” was not included in the product list. That could mean that the product doesn’t work or that Shiseido has locked down that whole market in the Asian pacific region.

    One always has to remember that stage one trials aren’t looking necessary for positive ground-breaking results, it’s a focus on safety, no one wants to gain a full head of hair then have tentacles grow out of their eye balls. The stage two read out should be before August, until that happens it’s just pure speculation.

    1. The deal with China was for their skin product exclusivity. They could not do this for the hair product because they already gave exclusivity for the hair product in that region to Shiseido.

      Shiseido did not want exclusivity of the brotzu lotion, or the Follicum product, or the Aclaris topical, or anything else from any other player, but they bought Replicel’s product. Why? There must be something in it, besides speculation and hope.

      I think I can be more objective now. My hair system I had is working really well, took me from a Norwood 6 to a Norwood 1 and it is surviving my physical training regime, so far. So I no longer have a vested interest in a rushed cure. They can all take as long as they need, 2030 for all I care, but even with this personal security there is something about Shiseido that spells the word “breakthrough”.

  7. @Tony: why would they leak a pic? Let me put it very bluntly.. if u put that picture (just one NW6 to NW1) next day such things going to happen
    1- stock price will go up from 20$ to 2000$. Basically in one day your company is worth 100 times more
    2-Bruce Willis, Lebron…etc make a wire transfer and book their seats to be the first in line (couple of millions each…)
    3-Times will barge into your doorstep and ask for your photo for their cover page
    4- you will be well known scientist on par with Einstein
    5- countless tv channels call your name
    6- u gonna have to block alot of numbers in your phonebook
    ……etc
    oh yeah you are right.. if u leak that picture, your life would never ever be the same. possibly thats why they are withholding that photo.
    jokes aside, lets understand the magnitude of the situation . you are solving the world’s oldest disease of all. Seriously just think about it. People have been obsessed with it since ancient Egyptian times.

  8. @donitello

    I would be more worried if they release or ‘leaked’ an image, look at all the companies before them that have posted images they all failed miserably, that could mean a good thing or that could mean a very bad thing that it doesn’t work.

    I would say it probably works but how effective it will be who really knows? 20% increase 30%, 05%, at the end of the day I don’t think anything atm will bring back a NW 6 hairline it will most likely need a combination of different procedures to achieve that for varying sources.

  9. I’ve noticed my hair shedding more since the weather started getting hot. My scalp would be itching like crazy from dryness if it weren’t for the moisturizing product I rub on it

  10. It looks like the only remote hope on the menu for 2018 is shiseido. I don’t think follica is going to surprise a market release this year.

  11. Every year we are told to be “patient”, and so I muster up the confidence to do so…only to be told again and again. I am very disappointed in histogen and even cots. You brag about your discoveries but nothing ever comes of them.

  12. I’m playing devil’s advocate here for a second. Anyone ever watch the television show “Billions” on Showtime?

    The show is the epitome of being able to illustrate how big companies scheme to make money and belittle one another. The show even has a story line on sabotaging the manufacturing of a product, making it look like it’s junk and causing the company to close shop.

    Now to segway where I’m going with this….there’s talk of a universal cure-all for the common cold. https://newatlas.com/cure-common-cold-protein-imperial-college/54599/

    ….if this becomes reality in the near future then there is no excuse for not having a cure for male pattern baldness. Unless my underlying skepticism of human nature has truth.

    1. ….what’s the solution….crowd-source funding for research, and a private security army (comprised of all bald or balding men who want their hair back) for all hairloss research facilities.

      1. there’d be a cure by now if the establishment hair loss industry hadn’t been squelching it all these years. Just like we’d have something cleaner and cheaper than fossil fuels if not for the establishment oil companies destroying all competition. They even have their own anti-science, anti-environment, anti-intellectual TV channel called Fox News. :-) Anyway, establishments slow progress of all competition and basically just suck.

    2. When it comes to corporations and industries I wouldn’t put anything past them, but medical research is slightly shielded from that as a lot of revenue comes from progress itself. And consider laser eye surgery – who would have ever guessed that you could fix people’s eyesight to near perfect with a fairly simple procedure – and the glasses / contacts industries (both with their fair share of corruption ) couldn’t / didn’t stop it.

  13. It’s Time.

    Those bald heads have had 6 weeks of JAK either it does not work or it does work. There are 24 recipients who go to the gym, go to work, have lots of family members and friends. That means these recipients are seen by thousands of people who know them.

    There must be word out if it is working. If not, we will soon get word that the trials have been stopped due to lack of success. Don’t let it end this way.

    We should hear any day now.

    nasa_rs

    1. If it doesn’t work, it may not be entirely over if the studies conclude that the topical didn’t penetrate to the degree necessary and the formula needs a tweak. Christiano believe(s)or(d) in it, and she has a service agreement grant to study JAK’s until 2022 (whatever that means, tbf)

      But if all is lost, who’s the next horse you’re betting on? I hope you don’t end this way. I think I speak for many of us when I say how much I appreciate your optimism. : )

      ★ admin, will you continue to provide us with news if 2020 passes? I’d like to think we’re safe with hairlosscure2020’s.

      1. Tuzui would be our Finsl hope but I think he takes a lot longer than 2020 probably 2040 if that. If JAK fails then forget any drug working. Jak worked 100% for AA type hair loss then it does not work for aga? The most rebuts full hair activator. It means the mechanism for hair growth is far more down to SBA issues that we ever imagined. But that is IF it does not work.

        Nasa_rs still believes.

          1. 2040? Are you dumb? There has been laws passed in Japan just for treatments like this. They have millions of dollars and are backed my the Japanese government and 2 other companies… I get that you’re in love with these JAK inhibitors but do some research before you ridiculous claims

    2. all products are worthless only organ cloning will solve this issue really.. Follica and JAK even if they worked well being released the same time you can just clone follicles.. I just don’t think it’s going to matter by then.

  14. Last year, around September, a tweet asked Replicel if RCH-01 would be available by 2024. The reply was something like ‘that should be reasonable’ but within a few hours was changed to the generic: “It’s too early to predict when our products will be commercially available”. The takeaway, which has unsettled me ever since it appeared, was their inability to commit to 2024. Clearly there is a long game we’re not being made aware of.

  15. Jak is going to work we will find out any day now maybe one or two months.

    Nasa_rs is going to look Super Cool once he gets his hair back starting December 2019.

    Dilussional? Like going to the moon in 1969. Lindbergh flying across the Atlantic in a solo flight. I’m in Good Company.

    All my opinion.

  16. Jak will most likely work very well but the main issue will be getting approval from the fda when jak has some very serious side effects. Will they pass it for hairloss knowing that this drug can potential wreck your immune system? Fin has bad sides like ED but who knows what merk had to do to pass it through fda. All I know is that we are in a bad spot and there really is no groundbreaking cure that will save us anytime soon. Just newer treatments targeted differently to grow hair or stop hairloss. All new treatments on the horizon like sisheido, sm, follicum, etc report 10 to 20% increase in hair growth. Follica claims 100cm2 but how good are those hairs? Will they be terminal or small worthless ones? 30 cm2 terminal is good but not enough for nw4 or higher. Unfortunately I just see better prp, keraatem type of treatments coming out and maybe follica in 2019. I’ll still definitely use any new treatment to keep what I have and grow some hair back but I’m not expecting any sort of game changers. When I visited one of cots dermatologists at the University of Pennsylvania about 3 years ago ..I asked her if a cure for mpb would come out. She literally laughed out loud and said nope! She goes expect cell based treatments in the next 5 years or so. That’s coming from someone who attends all these hair loss conferences and is well known dermatologist at university of Pennsylvania.

    1. That is strange because Cots predicted a cure would come at least 5 years ago. How can his dermatologist have such a different view!?

    2. MJones…I literally wrote a post about Jaks and listed it’s side effects, one being Tuberculosis and it got laughed at. They also can cause other viral and bacterial infections. Also, one Jak Tofac has a black box label warning…..which means…..severe. I assume the people who commented never set foot in medical or biology. Also, there are links to lymphoma as indicated on the black box warning of tofacitinib. I cannot see any practitioner, prescribing this for hair loss. It’s indication use is moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.

      So in short, I agree, it would have to be FDA approved because of what is above, unless they are using a different Jak or something about it’s delivery, being non oral, changes the side effects. Not saying it can’t happen. However, those are major hurdles to jump through. So, hopefully it’s a different type of jak. Also just because Jaks work on AA, does not mean that translates to AGA. It makes sense on why it works on AA- Auto immune or inflammation response hairloss….because they work on rheumatoid arthritis. So that makes sense. What doesn’t…..it will work on AGA. Again, not saying it won’t…..and I hope they can, safely.

      1. Let’s not forget JAKs were fast-tracked by the FDA for approval to treat AA. People who suffer from AA are not terminal cancer patients needing JAK as a very serious option, they are otherwise healthy individuals who unfortunately have AA. While I’m sure the there are side effects to JAKs in general, I don’t think they are the boogeyman they’re being made out to be. A phase 1 trial is to prove they are safe, which was proven. They wouldn’t go ahead with trials if there were life threatening side effects

  17. I have to agree in that at best in the next 12 months there will only be slight prp adjustments. About a month ago I posted a men’s health magazine article about future hair loss treatments and I believe it is accurate. It’s an older article however they interviewed the big guns like cotsarelis. I’ll find the link and post again as I don’t think many saw it last time as I posted right before a new post was written here. Basically it says the next possible treatment will be jaks and we are a few years away from that. Everything else is rather distant.

      1. Admin….any updates on the conference that ended in May 20th. I seen the picture you posted on litan….by the pics it looks like they did 0.1%.

  18. I think Tsuji and sanford burnham have had the most scientifically sound base to create a cure but even then as we know its one thing thinking that and actually having something from them that becomes available to us on a wider scale. Still high hopes for Tsuji :)

  19. I think people severely underestimate what a treatment for maintenance would mean for us. Everybody wants a miracle cure and I do too, but guaranteed maintenance (free of sides) would be a complete game changer. It would save the next generations from MPB, it would put all of our minds at ease that things will not get worse and it would make almost everybody under a Norwood 4 a great candidate for a HT. This would be absolutely incredible but most guys I see on forums only complain about results like Shiseido/Replicel presented.

    1. I completely agree Greene99, although I am sure there is a significant percentage of readers that are far past the maintenance stage and are looking for nothing short of a powerful regrowth solution. It is clear there are at least 2 general markets reading this blog (those that fear losing their hair and those that have lost most of it), and a treatment that may be viewed as significant to one, may mean little to the other. Thus the wide disparity of perspective. Personally, I come here to learn of anything at the forefront that might help in the short run but hoping for a game changer.

  20. I do not fear any sides from JAK. Slap some JAK on your head and grow a full head. Perhaps take Propecia to maintain or just wait until MPB brings you back down to a NW3, then slap some more JAK on. It’s not like you’ll have to take it persistently for life. MPB is a slow process.

    1. I went from being NW1 in 2014 to badly diffusing, slightly worse than NW 2 hairline in 2016. If not for the big 3, I’d probably be a horribly diffuse, NW 4 by now. Instead I regained some ground to about the point I was at just before I noticed I was losing it.

      So while what you say is generally true, it’s also not uncommon for MPB to be quite rapid.

      1. I feel you. MPB is more aggressive in some than others. I was a NW 3 vertex in 1994 and I’m now a NW 4 all these years later. I’ve taken Propecia off and on and had 2 poor transplants in my crown 20 years ago. I still picture a scenario where I regain massively from JAK and then do nothing for awhile, instead of trying to maintain a NW1 throughout life. I am, after all, 46 years old.

  21. @admin- no clue why they both say different things. It’s just what she said. I kind of got mad at her because she laughed like it’s something not worth caring about. In the meantime she had the thickest hair ever! So she doesn’t know the feeling of hair loss. Nobody does unless they go through it.

    @Derek- Yes jaks are no joke. Hopefully aclaris has a new type of jak that isn’t harmful..but I doubt it. Plus any topical that you apply to your skin will go systematic. I don’t know of any topical that doesn’t. Even polichem and hassan wong topical fin has reported side effects of absorption.

    1. Did Hasson and wong ever put back up their topical fin or is it still down?
      I agree, Jaks are not a joke from medical books. The Jak I gave was tofacitinib. I didn’t think it would be in my drug handbook, but it is…..and soon as I seen the dreaded black label warning…..I was like,” Uh why( for hairloss sake ).” Lol. I trust a 2018 current medical drug book we get for college than an abstract to a study for now.
      Yeah typically topicals have less absorption, but also with that less effectiveness. Take for instance topical Testosterone versus IM( intramuscular injection ) or oral anabolics. If topicals worked better, body builders would bath in it instead. It just doesn’t. So, less sides, but less absorbed with topicals…..I agree, most of anything would go systemic to a degree.

      Take for instance in my patho physiology class…..Male Pattern Hair Loss was never talked about or in the book. Patho is the study of the diseases of the human body, now with classifications( coding ICD-10 ….what your insurance might cover ). However, AA was in there. So I think biologically because AA does fall under an inflammation marker, it can be classified as a disease or disorder….whereas…biologically, AGA doesn’t. So my opinion……just my opinion. Once AA gets nailed out, the focus goes to AGA. Also, as long as people are willing to shell out $$$ without insurance….it makes it easy on medical doctors who are in hairloss, they don’t need to worry about insurance reimbursements, less staff to hire to deal with insurance etc…..because you are paying straight cash. So as long as people are paying big $$$ why would you want to expedite anything conclusive that can be detrimental to an easy income without dealing with insurances much and just cash if you’re not a bio tech company etc. From a business sense…….
      However, I will say, it’s not covered by insurance because it’s not viewed , AGA, as a disease or disorder. So I think someone reads AA and think it will link to AGA. However, biologically look how both are different and viewed. We all know though that AGA can cause disorders, like Anxiety, depression, sleep etc…..and we will cover those with insurance lol….because they are viewed as disorders, but not the AGA.

      I can get topical fin prescribed….and I have a bottle of proscar on my counter….I have yet to take anything. My hairloss has not changed in 2 years, atleast of any significance. I am not a fan of minox for long term, but that is me….never used it. I do wonder, if I go on topical fin, would that help….as I don’t seem to be losing anymore in 2 years. I could always get litan with topical fin. However, it seems people didn’t get results with latisse version. However, in studies it was I believe 0.1% litan used.

      Either way, hope that something, even if Jaks…if it it overall safe and effective will work. Can anyone comment on, “Soft-Jaks”, maybe that is something different than the Jak I gave. Either way……Bio tech is going to be huge. Biomedical engineering, if I had to tell anyone a profession to get into….that in 5 years will explode. I think their employment projection is at 30% growth….to bad it’s not hair growth 30%. However, with nano tech for medical usage….5 G….. you think hairloss would be…what is a word I am searching for…. Better Treatments Without a Catch 22.

      1. Soft JAKs are rapidly metabolized and inactivated when they enter the bloodstream… try the google “book”

  22. Raise ur hands if u will use winlevi if it comes out next year. Same formulation of Breezula lower concentration and same safety profile.. My hands are raised..

  23. Off topic but hassock and Wong topical finasteride does have side effects plus not nearly as effective as oral. I live here in Vancouver and know lots of people who tried it.
    Some switched from oral and lost ground others who went off oral years ago and thought topical was going to be side effect free soon got gyno etc.
    Lastly, H&W supply is horrible , you can order it , get the RX filled then when you run out they tell you it will be 8 weeks .. once again not good for keeping a consistent regime.
    If oral works for you and no sides, don’t switch like I did. If you do get sides from finasteride , stay away from both .

    1. Didn’t Hasson and wong take down their topical fin? I know on their website, they took down their cases on it when brotzu was presenting. Idk if that is coincidence etc….maybe it is back up on their website. I don’t know. Thanks for sharing your experience with topical fin though.

      1. Right! …. But didnt they present about it at the conference now? What did they say and show there? Results? Pics? Trials?

  24. I don’t know the FDA status of growth factors and whether they can be prescribed off label or if they can be prescribed at all but there are quite a few studies (primarily Korean) showing a positive effect (20% range) when applied topically in conjunction with a micro-needling procedure. If legal, you would think this would be next in the evolution of incrementally beneficial treatments. Possibly, a series of in office procedures or in combination with a topical cocktail to be applied at home, or some combination. Perhaps Follica is proceeding along these lines.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28528395 (I have the full pdf with pics);
    http://www.oatext.com/Therapeutic-effects-of-growth-factor-cocktail-including-fibroblast-growth-factor-9-in-patients-with-androgenetic-alopecia-a-split-study.php;
    http://kiss.kstudy.com/thesis/thesis-view.asp?key=3547059;
    http://kiss.kstudy.com/thesis/thesis-view.asp?key=3421891;
    http://www.papersearch.net/thesis/article.asp?key=3481598;
    https://www.haargroeispecialist.nl/resources/product-files/files/Effects-of-topical-application-of-growth-factors-followed-by-microneedle-therapy-in-women-with-female-pattern-hair-loss-A-pilot-study.pdf

  25. guys can anyone give me the micro needle product I should buy in the USA to do some treatment ? 0.5 mm enough or should I do 1 mm? Please give me a name that would best fit for hair loss that I can buy off Amazon

  26. new article from higgins:

    A Bald Statement – Current Approaches to Manipulate Miniaturisation Focus only on Promoting Hair Growth.
    Pantelireis N1, Higgins CA1.

    Hair plays a large part in communication and society with its role changing through time and across cultures. Most people don’t leave the house before combing their hair or shaving their beard and for many hair loss or irregular hair growth can have a significant impact on their psychological health. Somewhat unsurprisingly, according to GMR Data today’s global hair care industry is worth an estimated $87 Billion in 2018, with hair loss estimated at $2.8 Billion. Considering that no current hair loss related products can completely reverse hair loss, it is reasonable to believe this market could expand significantly with the discovery of a comprehensive therapy. As such, a great deal of research focuses on overcoming hair loss, and in particular, a common form of hair loss known as Androgenetic Alopecia (AGA) or male pattern baldness. In AGA hair follicles miniaturise in a large step change from a terminal to a vellus state. Within this viewpoint article, we discuss how influx and efflux of cells into and out from the dermal papilla can modulate dermal papilla size during the hair cycle. As dermal papilla size is positively correlated with the size of the hair fibre produced by a follicle, we argue here that therapies for treating AGA should be developed which can alter dermal papilla size, rather than just promote hair growth. We also discuss current therapeutics for AGA, and emphasize the importance of using the right model systems to analyse miniaturisation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

    1. Nice article omg. But what does it mean other than what we need? Does she have something brewing in the pot that works? BTW setiprant just completed phase 2a for Aga.

    2. This is good. It’s refreshing to read an article from a doctor and scientist who acknowledges that most research is going about this completely the wrong way.

      1. Most research goes the wrong way. That’s why it is research. It’s like playing hide and seek when you’re a kid. If you know that your older brother is hiding under your bed, you won’t waste time looking for him in the garage :-)

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