Monthly Archives: July 2018

Evolis, Cellmid, Maria Halasz

Evolis Shampoo Enters China and the US

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Update: December 20, 2021 — Evolis Professional just changed its name to Anagenics. Their popular hair loss shampoo currently has a 4 out of 5 stars rating on Amazon based on 190 reviews.

Evolis Shampoo
Evolis Shampoo.

I have covered Australia based Cellmid (now Anagenics) and its Evolis line of plant based hair loss products a number of times in the past. However, I usually limited my discussion of Cellmid to a small part of my once-a-month “brief items” posts.

There are many other companies that are of far more interest to those of us who are looking for a permanent hair loss cure. Note that in 2023, Marie Claire listed Evolis Professional Promote as one its 25 best shampoos.

Évolis, Cellmid and FGF5 Inhibition

I do not consider the Cellmid’s fibroblast growth factor 5 (FGF-5) based Évolis™ line of natural hair growth products to be any kind of a miracle hair loss treatment. However, it is not out of the question that Évolis products can at least modestly benefit your hair.

There is quite a bit of scientific evidence in regards to the inverse connection between the FGF5 protein and scalp hair growth and length. Perhaps the most well known paper on this subject is one that was co-authored by Dr Claire Higgins and Dr. Angela Christiano in 2014: “FGF5 is a crucial regulator of hair length in humans“.

FGF5 causes hair to stop growing. In the absence of FGF5, people can grow excessively long hair. Cellmid CEO Maria Halasz has quite an interesting story to tell in regards to the start of her company and product. Some years ago, while on a trip to Japan, she accidentally discovered that certain natural ingredients inhibited FGF5 and promoted hair growth in the process. Hence was born Évolis.

Evolis Ingredients
Evolis Shampoo Ingredients.

I found the above primarily natural ingredient list on one of Évolis’ product packaging inserts.

Evolis Enters China and the US in 2018

  • In May 2018, it was announced that Cellmid was entering into a distribution deal in China with Beijing Fukangren Bio-PharmTech. The latter will distribute the former’s Évolis anti-aging and hair care products in China.
  • In July 2018, Cellmid entered into a sales agreement with US based department stores Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales. These chains will start selling the company’s hair loss products in September 2018.

Interesting, only one person currently seems to be selling Evolis on Amazon. In contrast, numerous third party vendors are selling Shiseido’s Adenosine based Japanese products.

Note that Maria Halasz purchased $7.5 million worth of Cellmid stock at the end of 2017.

Histogen, HSC660, HST001

Histogen Phase 3 Trials on Men Begin in Mexico

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Update 2020: Histogen merging with Conatus Pharmaceuticals.

Update 2019: It seems like Histogen’s male hair loss product (HST001) clinical trials never worked out in Mexico. A new article from Histogen states that Phase 1b trials for HST001 (Hair Stimulating Complex) would start later in 2019. Note that their female hair loss product is called HSC660.

Earlier today, commentator “Bekoo” posted some groundbreaking news about Histogen in regards to their men’s hair loss product. The information he posted was part of an article that appeared a few days ago in the San Diego Tribune on July 12th 2018. Note that Histogen is headquartered in San Diego, so the company is often covered in the city’s main local newspapers.

Histogen Hair Stimulating Complex (HSC660) for Women

Histogen Hair Stimulating Complex HSC660
Histogen Hair Stimulating Complex HSC660 for Women. Before and After Photo.

The title and gist of this new article is in regards to Histogen’s women’s hair loss product (HSC660) trials starting. I already discussed this development recently. So even though it was in my Google alerts, I was never planning to read the article in it’s entirety… until “Bekoo” saved us and posted his findings today.

Histogen Starts Phase 3 Trials in Mexico

  • By far the biggest news is that Histogen has started Phase 3 clinical trials in Mexico for its men’s hair product. This product is called “an earlier version of HSC660” in the San Diego Tribune article, so might be slightly different from the newer women’s HSC660.

Note that in 2016, Histogen estimated that their men’s  hair loss product would be available in Mexico in 2018. They were planning to start Phase 3 trials in Mexico “soon” per that 2016 post of mine. So it looks like they got delayed by 1.5 years or so. Better late than never of course.

Gail Naughton

  • Also, per CEO Dr. Gail Naughton, they anticipate success with these Phase 3 trials and are looking towards commercialization:

“We’re in very late-stage negotiations with some huge retail partners. A deal should be concluded in the next few months.”