Dr. Hasson Switches to Topical Finasteride

All my posts on topical finasteride seem to be quite popular. In hindsight, this is not surprising when considering the fact that I get emails about topical finasteride at least several times a month. People really want to ditch oral finasteride and switch to the topical version in order to reduce their chances of systemic side effects.

Local compounding pharmacies in most cities will be able to make topical finasteride for you if you ask. However, most of us are eagerly awaiting two thoroughly tested products that could be available for sale worldwide in the near future.

  1. The first of these two is Spanish (previously Swiss) company Polichem’s P-3074 product, which I have covered on this blog several times in the past. European Phase 3 clinical trials for P-3074 are almost completed, while US Phase 3 clinical trials are expected to be completed in May 2018. Moreover, in 2016, an Italian study found the product (when applied to the scalp twice per day) to have superior results to oral finasteride. Several other favorable studies from prior years have also been covered on this blog in the past. P-3074 is vehicled in Hydroxypropyl-Chitosan.
  2. The second of these two products is Canadian hair transplant clinic Hasson & Wong’s topical finasteride. This product is being manufactured in partnership with Italy’s Farmacia Parati. Without this partnership with a well known reputable pharmacy, I would have not put this product in the same category as Polichem’s product. The Hasson & Wong product is a liposomal formulation that has been modified via the attachment of silicone particles to the liposomes.

Perhaps a third company can develop nanoparticle based finasteride delivery in the future?

Dr. Hasson Topical Finasteride Update

Since 2014, Dr. Victor Hasson has provided this blog with regular updates about the status of his clinic’s topical finasteride (e.g., see here and here). Canadian hair loss sufferers have been able to obtain the product from his clinic. And Europeans have been able to access the product via Farmacia Parati.

However, people in other regions of the world including the US have had no such luck. There are a number of regulatory hurdles that Dr. Hasson has been trying to overcome in order to sell in the US.

Last week, Dr. Hasson called me out of the blue and mentioned some new developments, the gist of which are highlighted in the latest blog post on his website. I did not record his call, but below are some highlights that I recollect:

  • Dr. Hasson will answer any intelligent reader questions if you post them in the comments to this post.
  • Hasson & Wong will no longer prescribe oral finasteride and has entirely moved to topical finasteride.
  • Since February 2017, they have been using their third generation of topical finasteride.
  • Results from topical finasteride (based on analysis of around 800 patients in the Vancouver, BC area over the past several years) have been at least as good as those from oral finasteride.
  • Side effects from topical finasteride have so far been nonexistent.
  • The Hasson & Wong clinic will post a number of updates with patient photos related to this latest development on their website in the coming weeks.
  • US sales should finally become a reality in the near future. Dr. Hasson has selected some pharmacies in the US that will compound his proprietary product.
  • I asked about topical dutasteride (which interests me more than topical finasteride), and Dr. Hasson mentioned that this product is next in line. He talked about some scientific reason that makes the topical dutasteride molecule even more amenable to the scalp and scalp absorption than the topical finasteride molecule. I will ask him to elaborate in the comments to this post.
  • Dr. Hasson mentioned that it has been difficult for him to get his hands on sufficient quantities of dutasteride and therefore their research in that area has lagged. Results from topical dutasteride are superior to those from topical finasteride. This matches what we know regarding the difference in hair growth results between the oral versions of both drugs.

Aclaris Phase 2 Trials for JAK Inhibitors for AGA

Every time when I feel like I am done covering Aclaris Therapeutics and the company’s topical JAK inhibitors for treating androgenetic alopecia (AGA) for a few months, some new surprise comes up. The company has not even as yet commenced Phase 1 clinical trials for its AGA product. Yet we keep getting interesting new updates on a regular basis.

Aclaris JAK Inhibitor Alopecia Areata Before and After Photo

Aclaris Therapeutics: Phase 2 Trials for JAK Inhibitors for AGA

This week I got several emails from Aclaris, and they mentioned their continued work and plans for the topical JAK product to treat AGA. Nothing much new in there. However, earlier today, my google alerts for Aclaris gave me a link to this new informative eight page interview with the CEO Dr. Neal Walker and various others. How does “Seeking Alpha” get these interviews before other sites?

In any case, I had to re-register with the above site in order to see the whole interview (which can be set to show up on one page instead of on eight pages). A key quote from the chief scientific officer Dr. Stuart Shanler clearly stood out and necessitated my writing this post:

“We also intend to initiate a Phase 2 open-label trial with ATI-50002 in AGA that is androgenetic alopecia in the first half of 2018.”

If this really does happen as scheduled, it would be superb news. However:

  1. I am a bit confused about why their topical AGA product in their pipeline is not labeled as ATI-50002, even though the above quote implies as such. It is also worth remembering that just two months ago, Aclaris was granted several patents that implied that a number of different JAK inhibitors (“-tinibs”) could help male pattern hair loss sufferers. So in the end they might perhaps come out with several different topical products for AGA rather than just one.
  2. It would be useful to know how they can skip Phase 1 clinical trials since their pipeline still shows those as not having even commenced as of today. As many have postulated in the past, since some of these topical JAK inhibitors have already been tested for other uses and by other entities such as Confluence and Columbia University, perhaps Phase 1 trials can be skipped or sped up?
  3. They plan to conduct open-label trials, which can be a bit biased it seems.

In any event, unless the interview with Mr. Walker et al. was transcribed incorrectly, this is a big development. Moroever, the first half 2018 Phase 2 trial initiation goal comes right from the horse’s mouth.

H/T to “Malcolm” for pushing me to write this post today.