Kerastem Update
Kerastem STYLE phase II clinical trial results update. Somewhat positive news of 17 percent increase in hair count at 6 months post-treatment. However, they only treated men in the early stages of hair loss (Norwood Scale I to III).
Wounding and Hair Growth
Reader “omg” posted an interesting link to a study from Taiwan with a great title: “Never too old to regenerate (hair)”. The researchers report on an 80 year old man who regrew 1 brand new pigmented black hair after scalp wounding due to excision of a basal cell carcinoma.
Yet more evidence in support of wounding, the main idea behind the work of well known company Follica. The new (or regenerated old) hair remained black at the 42-month time of follow-up. I do not think the claim that the researchers make that this is the world’s first case of wounding led hair growth in human skin is true.
Other Hair News this Month
— A potential improvement in current hair regeneration technology from Japan via self-sorted hair follicle germs (ssHFGs). I visualize an image of ant collaboration (which creeps me out a bit), each time I read that term. Dr. Junji Fukuda who I have covered on this blog before is a lead author. Update: A new article on this development came out on February 1, 2018.
— Dr. Takashi Tsuji was back in the news a couple of weeks ago. He is leading a Japanese team that includes RIKEN researchers that will develop technology to analyze human health ramifications of changes in people’s hair shape and quality. According to Dr. Tsuji, some research indicates that certain changes in human hair components are unique to people with diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Perhaps in future one can detect cancer earlier depending on hair analysis.
— Discussion about Donald Trumps’s hair never seems to get old when it comes to the major newspapers. I previously discussed Mr. Trump’s usage of Finasteride as well as a 10 page detailed article on his hair. Now come news that his daughter Ivanka has claimed that Donald Trump has had scalp reduction surgery.
— Hair transplants could cure migraines in some per Turkish surgeon Dr. Safvet Ors. Actual study was published a few months ago despite major newspapers only covering the development more recently.
— Topical Tofacitinib 2% ointment at least moderately effective in 3 of 10 patients suffering from alopecia areata. Dr. Brett King led the study. Hopefully, Aclaris will see better results for male pattern hair loss sufferers with their topical JAK product when it finally comes out. Fingers crossed.
http://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(17)32601-4/fulltext
Topical JAK inhibitor Tofacitinib did work only für 1 AA patient!!!
Excellent finding, discouraging results.
Let’s see what Aclaris’ trials result in…
Super news!! So topical works for AA. Next up AGA….and some fools were saying topical drugs can never work lol
“In summary, treatment with tofacitinib 2% ointment led to significant scalp hair regrowth in 1 patient and partial regrowth in 2 patients.”
Not great considering there were 10 patients, but hopefully Aclaris has better technology and longer duration. Nevertheless, at least we know that topical can work on some AA patients.
FYI –> oral JAKs never worked for all patients with AA, so if topical JAKs cure even 50 percent of people with AGA, I would be happy and consider it a miracle. My theory has been that it will help those AGA patients who have a significant inflammation and itching component to their baldness.
I consider it a huge problem that jak inhibitors have never worked on 100% of AA patients (let alone AGA patients). Until it includes everyone, it’s not a cure. Here’s hoping they crack the code soon.
I agree. Still, it is possible they can isolate why it worked for one and not the others. Maybe it was an environmental difference, maybe there are nuance differences between the AA folks they tested. In that regard it’s okay news.
So the kerastem study is quite interesting. 2900 terminal hairs. That would be excellent and I’m assuming it would thicken existing weaker hairs as well. Another interesting thing mentioned was that they plan to distribute the STYLE treatment to non US countries? I thought kerastem was already used in Switzerland, Czech etc? Is STYLE completely different than those kerastem treatments already offered that don’t seem to work for those who already tried it? Or is Kerastem trying to trick us into thinking this is a new treatment than the European one?
I emailed them and turns out that a clinic which goes by the name of “Cosmesurge” provides it in UK
Thanks for all the great posts admin! I have seen results from numerous studies about products that have shown some regrowth. It seems, however, that the excitement from many readers is limited. Wouldn’t a product that could even maintain permanently be a complete game changer? It wouldn’t help everybody but definitely a big percentage of us. Do you guys believe RCH-01, Follica or any others that are supposed to be released will help to maintain permanently? Maybe I am missing some information but even if a product shows 10 percent regrowth it would tell me there is a good chance it could be a maintenance solution.
Anyone else notice that the CNN news anchor Don Lemon has had a bit of a change in how his hair looks recently? He had noticeable thinning a few years ago to the point where he had to eventually sport a low buzz cut. It was especially apparent when he put his head down. Now, however, his hair looks thick and he has a mini frow.
Hair cloning lol…..or new treatment us commoners can’t access.. do you have before and after pics of him. Very interested to see. Do you think it’s a hair piece?
Anonymous… I’ve always thought it was some type of thin hair system. I’ve seen advertising for Hair Club that looks just like it. His hair style is simple enough so that it wouldn’t dominate his life to maintain the look, so more power to him if he likes it.
probably a hair tattoo
Never mind anything else, thoughts on Hopless Girl’s post??
JAK seemed to do JAK
We know the oral JAKs worked wonders for AA patients. We have to wait to see how topicals work for AGA.
does it mean we should forget JAK?
tsuji team will start march 2019???
is very very close!!
patience
We will have news of Follica in the next months. They can not delay anymore. If they are smart they will release the product soon.
Kerastem is claiming 29cm2 hairs terminal. Follica states 29cm2 terminal hairs but 100cm2 overall with neogeneic hairs. Can we combine both treatments? Could that yield 50cm2 hairs terminal and 130cm2 neogenic? I find it interesting that ketasyem produces more terminal hair than follica. But nobody is talking about it? Is it because Kerastem failed in Europe to show results?
Maybe but that assumes both will make it to market. Right now follica is the only one building a distribution network and marketing plan. Nobody else is close to that.
Did you see the Kerastem picture on their website? That’s awesome! Totally sufficient on its own to get by. For me, having just lost density, it’d get me back to my original hair. Not inclined to try many new treatments until a few other guinea humans have tried it first though. I’m already suspicious about evolis and WNTact.
As for Finasteride, I’ll reiterate my points on previous posts: that’s some nasty stuff. And not just ED but health in general. Did you know it raises the risk of diabetes? Much better to hit the gym.
Nobody likes Finasteride man…
kerastem seems like another PRP/Histogen “injection of stem cell nutrients and stem cells and did we mention stem cells” thing. Histogen at this point is a flop that is basically trying to keep the party going by scamming investors.
Tweet from replicel’s Lee Buckler today:
‘The deal represented in today’s @RepliCel announcement buys us runway through 2019, next-phase clinical data, device commercial launch, etc but importantly brings complete non-dilutive funding for future clinical trials and commercialization in China that we can use for the ROW.’
Hopefully some good momentum!
Replicel…I would be irritated as an investor and left. They can’t hold dates down, nor fulfill contract obligations. It’s all on Salseido, eplicel couldn’t even get through phase 2 on deadline to Japan. So they will just do their own. Every single time I see Replicel it’s to raise money and not results. I can tell you the Cleveland Browns will be a playoff team next year….want to buy my stock in that? I would write them off, unless they are productive. Embrace solutions not excuses.
This is exactly why you’re not an investor in start ups or early stage companies. Many on the forums have no clue and make ignorant assumptions so don’t feel bad. They have no idea about the relationship between Replicel and Shiseido. I’m not saying this method will work nor am on any “team”. However, I read some of the most goofy things based on personal emotions as opposed to facts. Yeah their late, so is the Tesla Model 3…s happens!
Darn admin…is this Jr. High or Church…you sensor swearing when it’s not directed at a person? Reminds me of an episode of the Brady Bunch when Greg got reprimanded for calling Bobby a “stinker”! WTF…can I say that? :-)
Yoda, my hero is Ned Flanders.
“runway” is a business term meaning “money raised to float our non-revenue generating business before we run out of money and go out of business”. If they were close, he would say this money will be used for commercialization and launch. The use of the word runway sounds like they raised enough money to let them keep reaching in the dark praying for a miracle, through 2019.
Between this and the end of their partnership with the jap company, I am not hopeful.
Some PolarityTE videos are below on good old YouTube. It’s great to see what appears to be a real-world patient on the news who is benefiting from the technology. It’s looking more and more legit, so fingers crossed! Unfortunately, I’ve seen many medical investment scams in my day, even making it to local news. Let’s hope this one is for real!..
https://youtu.be/AxhSAIAQdSI
https://youtu.be/iPduIQ8gips
I would really like to know what ideas they have on how this could help us if they have any. Scalping? Removing skin to a certain depth?
True. Until this news segment, I never realized it was a “filler” gel, where the new skin grows in the body. That seems to complicate things, as it requires a void in existing body skin (extreme damage, which is terrible and dangerous for a scalp it seems). Hopefully it’s a legit product and they figure out the new scalp skin logistics :-)
Replicel and histogen both only have concepts that don’t work…replicel atleast makes little bit of sense even though it will never work…histogen is absolute nonsense
How come RCH-01 is bound to fail?
Any explanation?
Anything positive or helpful to add Farhan? Otherwise feel free to limt yourself to a read only participation.
Why do you believe replicel will never work? Do you have any scientific studies/arguments to back this up?
He does not. It WILL work ( already did). Shiseido will deliver.
He probably means replicel won’t deliver but the technology works. I agree with him that replicel won’t deliver. I think sisheido will bring it to market.
But as far as I am aware shiseido still aim for 2018 release?
Hard to tell. They are to deliver their Phase2 trial results early this year (around feb/mar 2018). Then MAYBE, they will release it later on the year.
But I would focus on the results.. If they are good, bingo!
Let’s say it will be released in 2019 even 2020, how long do you thing, waiting time will be?
Not much of a waiting time than any other new treatment. Question is how do people not from Japan plan it out to get it. You can’t stay there for two to three weeks to harvest cells then inject. Either way I’ll wait a couple years after release before getting it. Something about injecting cells in my head worries me.
My doc said any new treatment could take a long time before it hits our country following TGA clearance, etc. We also get hit with the so-called ‘Australia tax’, meaning many imported products/services cost a bomb. So for many here it needs to be affordable as well as safe and effective. Maybe there will be medical packages to go stay in Japan, etc but if you’ve ever been there, you’re gonna need a lotta ¥en! Either way, Japan’s great-you’ll still have a ball (even if that ball is your head). Here’s hoping that something comes out in the meantime that doesn’t require too many hurdles that stretch on forever?!
Baicalin increases hair follicle development by increasing canonical Wnt/β‑catenin signaling and activating dermal papillar cells in mice.
AND
Clinical evaluation of a novel fractional radiofrequency device for hair growth: Fractional radiofrequency for hair growth stimulation.
“Twenty-five patients received 10 fractional RF treatments every 2 weeks, and were followed up 2 months after the last treatment. All patients were evaluated by global photography. In 10 patients, blinded manual hair counts were performed. Patients demonstrated less hair shedding, fuller hair, and faster hair growth. There was an average increase of 31.6% in hair density (based on hair counts) and 18% increase in hair shaft thickness. All subjects tolerated the treatments well. The HairLux device is effective and safe for hair growth stimulation in AGA. Ten treatment sessions are recommended to maximize results.”
Is HairLux available now? Or is this in clinical trials? 36% hair density is great! Better than kerastem, sisheido. I hope it’s not a scam.
For some reason if i Google hair loss news… Its Donald Trump every where
Guys any one here use hair fibers that don’t make a mess…
Super Million Hair
Follicum update-
http://follicum.se/en/important-new-receptors-for-follicums-lead-candidate-fol-005-in-hair-follicle-cells-identified/
They sent an email about that to me too, but will wait for more details about the proteins and receptors before writing a post.