Since starting this blog in 2013, I have always wondered why China is so under-represented in hair loss research and the development of new hair loss treatments. Especially in comparison to the US, South Korea and Japan. While Chinese hair loss research did improve significantly in the last few years, hair multiplication related developments remained elusive. But finally, this has all changed due to the entry of Yunce Medical (also known as Yunce Biotech).
Update: June 30, 2025
Yunce Medical Presents at the 14th International Congress of Dermatology in Rome
Yunce Medical’s human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) derived hair multiplication technology was presented at the recently ended 14th International Congress of Dermatology in Rome. The presenter was Dr. Zhao Lingyun from the Department of Dermatology at West China Hospital of Sichuan University. They specify that this treatment is jointly developed by West China Hospital and Yunce Medical (who they refer to as Chengdu Yunce Medical). Key quote (indirectly referring to Stemson as the first):
“It is worth mentioning that Chengdu Yunce Medical is the second R&D company in the world and the first in China to master this technology,”
April 21, 2025
Yunce Medical: Treating Androgenetic Alopecia with iPSC-derived Hair Follicle Cells
Reader “Theo” sent me two interesting links in the past week related to:
- An August 2024 speech by Yunce Medical’s founder and chairman Liu Shaoxian. It was titled:
“Progress in the Treatment of Androgenic Alopecia with Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Hair Follicle Cells.”
- An April 2025 speech by the same CEO. It had the same title as above.
Yunce Medical is developing this technology in partnership with West China Hospital of Sichuan University. The research team has successfully differentiated hair follicle cells from iPSCs and “verified the success in animal experiments”.
But the most interesting quote from the first speech (after translation) was:
“This research result is almost synchronized with the research progress of Stemson”.
He is of course referring to Stemson Therapeutics, the biggest US-based hope for a hair loss cure that alas folded in December 2024.
The above first speech was made at the “2024 Tianfu Bio-pharmaceutical Industry Development and Cooperation Conference” hosted by the Chengdu Hi-tech Zone Bio-Industry Federation. Per the article, Chengdu has emerged as a key center of the Chinese bio-pharmaceutical industry cluster. The second newer speech was made in Beijing at the 9th Immunogenetic and Cellular Therapy Conference (IGC 2025).
As if this was not enough, “Theo” sent me another link that is even more encouraging:
“Judging from the reported data, the company’s research progress is almost synchronized with that of STEMSON, or even better, representing China’s successful first step in the field of hair regeneration.”
In the article, they also gave the below before and after image:
Yunce Medical’s scientists obtained more than 90% of hair follicle stem cells with CD200 positive cells. This supposedly far exceeds the 30% results in known published literature. CD200 is a key marker for hair follicle stem cell activation, and CD200 positive hair follicle stem cells are the main cell type missing in the balding arras of scalps.
On Yunce Medical’s website, I like that they specify “human” induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) rather than just iPSCs. The company’s hair loss platform is called YCH001.
Clinical Trials
In an announcement in September 2024, Yunce Medical said they were about to start human clinical trials. They had already successfully cultivated hair follicle stem cells from induced pluripotent stem cells in animal experiments. Key quote from Liu Shiaoxian:
“We are the second company in the world and the first company in China to successfully induce iDP (iPSC-derived dermal papilla cells) and iHFSC (iPSC-derived hair follicle stem cells).”
The company also has a gene editing sector and various other regenerative medicine related technologies listed on its website.
Also of interest, in March 2025, Mr. Shaoxian gave yet another speech at the 3rd Bio-Innovative Drug Industry Conference in Suzhou. He mentioned the company’s focus on the research and development of hiPSC-derived cell drugs for the treatment of male pattern baldness, solid cancerous tumors and autoimmune diseases.
Note that there are numerous news articles from China that suggest that the rate of hair loss is increasing rapidly in both young males and females in the country. This technology will have tens of millions of takers in the world’s second most populous nation, assuming the price is reasonable.
China to lead the world in Gene Editing and Cell Therapy?
In spite of residing in the US, I am hoping that China surpasses the US in rapid biotech progress. Per a new article in the New York Post this week:
“China has embraced CRISPR gene editing, leapfrogged the West in cell therapy, developed sophisticated animal models and rapidly expanded its biotech exports from near-zero in 2016 to nearly 30% of new assets in the world today.”
One of the suggestions the author of this article gives to the US FDA is to speed up clinical trials in order to be able to compete with China and others in the biotech space.
Perhaps George Costanza was correct about looking towards China for a hair loss treatment after all?
My communication with Yunce:
Jessica thank you for information. How far are You from human trials? Will it be able to choose hair thicknes and density with Your method?
Hi Jan
It is currently in the animal trial phase, and the recruitment of the first batch of human volunteers is planned to start next year. Due to confidentiality, we are unable to disclose more details about the R&D process. Thank you for your understanding.
Welcome to Chengdu, China, a beautiful city. Tks！
From hair loss cure 2020 forum:) Do You think Your treatment will be available for an average Joe by the price?
We have developed a universal adipose-derived stem cell product, which is affordable for the general public. The recruitment of volunteers will be launched tomorrow.
If everything goes well what is Your opinion about timeline for Your treatment?
All products are expected to be (available/launched) before 2027.
I am from Poland. Does your solution something similar with Stemson Therapeutics?
Yes, that is the plan if everything goes smoothly. However, we are currently in the process of securing funding, and we are very concerned about ending up like Stemson Therapeutics in the US—regretfully having to lay off employees and discontinue our hair research pipeline due to financial issues.
So You have got financial problems just like Stemson did?
Yes, we are currently seeking investors to support the research and development aimed at solving this global problem of hair loss.
Is there some interest?
Regrettably, no investors are willing to inject significant funds to support the R&D of this hair regrowth project. We hope we can hold on by ourselves.
I don’t know why, if Your treatment is successful this will be billions dollars industry
The project has great prospects, but our promotion efforts are insufficient, so it hasn’t been noticed by more investors. Do you happen to know any suitable investors who would be willing to invest in this project?
Only one of the products under the hair regrowth project will be (launched/available) next year.
I understand, so it wont be hair cloning?
No, it specifically refers to hair regrowth using adipose-derived stem cells.
For hair cloning You need phase one, phase two and phase three, just like in the U.S.?
Yes.
So it is at least 5 years away? Have You got a solution for ipsc hair cloninig or is it still in r&d phase?
Yes, within five years! Our iPSC-based hair loss treatment has achieved great success in animal trials, and we are still further refining the animal trial data.
So Your ipsc hair cloning product is not ready for human clinical trials at the moment?
Yes, it all comes down to just two things: time and funding.
So You need more animal studies before moving to humans trials?
It involves commercial secrets, so I’m sorry that I can’t provide more information. Thank you for your understanding
I understand. How much money do You need to commercialize hair cloning? Maybe a good idea is to start crowdfunding? There are millions bald men waiting for this cure.
10 million RMB (Renminbi) about 2 million $
Crowdfunding?
It would be an excellent approach if you have a way to make it work. However, this method is quite difficult to implement in China.
What about crowdfunding from the US or Europe?
I don’t think this is probably a good approach.
Why not?
I don’t know how to do it. Could you help make this happen?
I will ask an administrator of hair loss cure 2020. Maybe he will help, he is from US. Do You think you ipsc hair cloning will be affoedable for an average Joe, or is it only for the rich?
I’m sure ordinary people can also afford it. Looking forward to your good news.
Do You think the price will be under $50,000?
Yes, it will be lower.
I’m actually curious about which hair loss forum you attended in 2020 and learned about our company from. Do you have any relevant forum materials
You’re welcome! Sleep well and good night! I’ll leave you a message whenever there’s an update, and I’ll wait for your reply once you see it.
May I send our conversation to the admin of “Hair loss cure 2020” forum?
Yes, but we are also seeking solutions. Currently, the company can operate normally with its other businesses, and we are confident that things will get better in the future.
The iPSC hair regeneration project is scheduled to be completed within five years, but the actual progress will depend on the hospital collaboration schedule and the specific development of research and development.
So I’m confused, is this bad news or not lol?
It is a question for Jessica.
Great effort, thank you.
Seems like some things got lost in translation. Would be great to have clarity on the confusing parts – apparently funding is a challenge.
I‘d rather be cautious with my expectations on Yunce.
Admin, any thoughts?
I am not keen on doing another fundraising post after the Riken one, and it is still too early in the game. Lets see how their ADSC product and Pelage’s PP405 product turn out first!
Yunce, come on! I’ll share any good news with you all in a timely manner.
https://yuncebiotech.com/sys-nd/163.html
Yea I saw this, this is actually really good news.
What’s the gist of this? And is it good in the timeline sense that we may see it this decade?
Assuming Yunce begins clinical trials soon and demonstrates both safety and efficacy, scalability could become a major hurdle. Based on some of Yunce’s announcements, I appreciate how local government officials are encouraging them to commercialize as soon as possible. Let’s pray they move quickly—so we can throw ridiculous amounts of money at them to be among the first humans to receive cloned hair transplants.
Out of curiosity where are you getting that the local government officials are encouraging them to commercialise ASAP?
https://yuncebiotech.com/sys-nd/155.html
“Director of the Science and Technology Bureau”.
Maybe I’m not seeing it but I don’t see how they’re necessarily pushing for it? I could be wrong though.
It shows that there is local political attention and support. They have referenced China’s “Healthy China 2030” strategy. If Yunce brings its iPSC treatments to market, it will likely boost the careers of the politicians associated with the project. This kind of political backing can translate into tax incentives, cheap land for factories, direct financial support — or, as the bureau director put it, “policy support.”
I experienced this political dynamic firsthand during the rise of China’s EV industry in the late 2010s.
Let us pray that the advances of this company go far; if they succeed, they will cure baldness and make history.
https://yuncebiotech.com/sys-nd/160.html
Would be really interesting to at some point have some clinical data on what % of hair follicle stem cells survive and grow as desired.
Also doubt they will have funding issues. Especially after Xi talked with Putin about how people would live to 150 years this century. Core industries in China have easy access to capital from state banks and VC funds.
Hi Admin, do you think it’s possible where Yunce could face the same obstacle as Stemson in terms of financial support, or do you have more faith that money would be financed to the company provided that they can demonstrate successful de novo hair growth?
I have more confidence in Chinese fundraising :-)
Let’s pray together lol
I’m glad to see an update from this company. I hope everything goes well for them. This is the ultimate cure for everyone, without exception. Best wishes to this company.
Is there anything out there in which major pharma companies are involved with?
https://www.yuncebiotech.com/sys-nd/156.html Let’s all pray
Thank YoYo! Theo also e-mailed me this so I am thanking you both in the comment here rather than elaborating in the post.
Great to see Yunce presenting at such a prestigious international conference.
Thanks Admin I don’t mind the shout out I just wish for us all to have a head of hair sometime in the horizon.
I know it’s hard for you tell Admin but if you had to guess, do you think it’s a possibility that they could start their trials this year or next year?
YoYo, I am always hopeful that the Chinese will make trials move along faster than companies in the west. Kintor is a good example.
I still follow Mr. He (see my past post on Lulu and Nana) on X. In fact, I interacted with his X post just today:
https://x.com/HLcure2020/status/1939781987910418887
We need this to come to a reality.
Scroll up under “Clinical Trials”
https://youtu.be/_8zX0i9JoqE
China is steamrolling US-Biotech. This is gonna be very interesting in the upcoming years.
Wait I thought you weren’t too keen on Yunce Ben? Are you hopeful for Yunce or more neutral?
It’s very hard to judge from an outside position and honestly I don’t know.
The huge jump in investments in China biotech is astonishing and will likely be even much more in the future.
Doesn’t mean Yunce will be successful. Technoderma and HopeMed are clearly struggling.
If I were Yunce I‘d buy consulting from Hamilton, D‘Amour and Samberg – the key players of Stemson.
I can see where you’re coming from, and buying a consult from Hamilton and D’Amour would definitely prove invaluable. I do believe that Yunce is planning to initiate clinical trials “soon”, so I guess we don’t have to wait too long to see where it’ll go from there. Just getting into clinical trials in of itself would be a huge accomplishment, considering how difficult it has proven for others to do so lol.
Yunce is preclincal company, they didint mentioned about human clinical trials yet, or am I wrong?
Sorry admin, I overlooked that the cells had been differentiated
Is this correct? Since these cells are not differentiated, they are potentially carcinogenic, right?
Admin can you clarify whether this is a treatment similar to HairClone or will de novo follicles be created?
Great find by you and Theo. I can only imagine the frustration Mr Hamilton would feel if this were to come to fruition. Stemson were the first ones to realise something like this only for another company to be the one to make it a reality.
Thanks for this article! I highly appreciate your countless hours you put into these posts.
Years ago news like these would make me feel good and upbeat, now I am completely unmoved.
HopeMed and Technoderma are two Chinese ventures who I thought highly of for a long time. Both are in limbo and chances are high that they are gonna vanish soon.
I remember a chat with an employee from Novartis who said that Chinese biotechs are years behind in every aspect of R&D, logistics, labs, production, standards, staff. But they are worldclass in copying. Things might change soon, they probably become better every year.
Let‘s keep an eye on Yunce! I am – again – hopeful but skeptic.
For Seinfeld completeness, I did not add the Costanza toupee episode at the end of the post:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVBbqvLtWBs
I have always been convinced that a cure would come out of China sooner or later. I’m not saying that this is the right time … but certainly with all the chaos that is happening in the world of finance, China is certainly shuffling the cards. And let’s hope that this could also be the end “at least for a while” of all these pharmaceutical companies that promise so much without ever doing anything.
The Pipeline shows the AGA treatment is the only candidate still in R&D and not even in Preclinical. Nice to have a new player but nothing to come soon I guess :/
Per one of the links, they are aiming to start trials soon. The website diagram has probably not been updated this year.
But yes, without Chinese government approval for speedier trials, this is still more like fantasy world.
I said it recently…everyone keep doing endless trials, keep on going with that nice financing and just when it is about to run out they miraculously find new breakthrough (ofc based on whatever term is most trending like stem cells, cloning, AI) to secure another 5 year cycle of money and more trials….and then suddenly China is here with a $14.99 cure find at shelf in your local drugstore.
Watch it now everyone dropping the baldness solutions and cures in next 2-3 years.
I’m cautiously optimistic. I haven’t put much stock in China because of all of the fraud coming out of that country. We’ll see what happens, fingers crossed!
The hair loss cure world is a rare instance where I think 30 years of western fraud might be unmatched. At least all the new Asian companies are not raising funds for 10-year lasting trials and manipulating stocks at a large scale. Maybe some of them are mostly scamming local investors.
Unbelievable news and find! Thanks Admin (and Theo)!
Definitely “Theo” more so than me. He e-mailed me all three links and never cares if I mention his name or not. He is a European citizen if I recall, but is always finding great stuff on Asian companies. Crazy that no-one ever discovered Yunce despite the August 2024 CEO speech.
But no need to be overly excited till they start human trials.
When will the first human clinical trial begin?
If Yunce Medical’s achievements are true and replicable in humans, this is the biggest news of the year.
No tariffs EVER on China if they cure hair loss!