Category Archives: Angela Christiano

Aclaris Therapeutics, Angela Christiano, JAK Inhibitors, Neal Walker, Ruxolitinib, Tofacitinib, Vixen Pharmaceuticals

So JAK Inhibitors Could yet Still Cure AGA?

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I had a lengthy new post planned for today, but need to delay it due to a potentially great new development in the world of JAK inhibitors.

JAK Inhibitors and Androgenetic Alopecia

In 2014, the biggest news in the hair loss world involved two separate developments related to JAK inhibitors Ruxolitinib and Tofacitinib curing alopecia areata. While those developments were incredibly exciting and groundbreaking, unfortunately the vast majority (>95 percent) of balding men and women suffer from androgenic alopecia (AGA) rather than alopecia areata (AA).

However, in 2014, Dr. Brett King did suggest that there was a possibility that JAK inhibitors could also cure androgenic alopecia during his interview with Spencer Kobren. In my own analysis, I have always stated that for many androgen related hair loss sufferers, perhaps there is also an inflammatory component. Hence the increased itching and dandruff. Such cases could benefit from JAK inhibitors.

Thereafter, there was no news on this potential cure for AGA for a while, until in 2015 the one and only Dr. Angela Christiano posted results (albeit in mice) that suggested that JAK inhibitors could treat androgenic alopecia. Moreover, this could occur via a topical (as opposed to oral) formulation of the two main candidate drugs: Ruxolitinib and Tofacitinib.

Thereafter, silence yet again for a long time. Even worse, Christopher1 on hairsite stated that JAK inhibitors did not cure his androgenic alopecia. He seems like a very reliable forum member over there so I was disappointed. However, the one good thing is that we do not know how accurately people are using JAK inhibitors at the moment. Some are using off-label products, some are going to inexperienced physicians and some are trying topical experiments. So I still had some hope. In any event, please be aware of the risks involved in these experiments and do not try them yourself. Always see a physician before trying any drug to treat hair loss.

Further contributing to the mood swings, on March 5 2016, a commentator named “Rick” posted an interesting comment on this blog that was largely ignored. Although I hate to trust any one such commentator (especially since in this case he is also using Minoxidil as part of his treatment), I will still paste his comment below since it was missed by so many blog readers:

“Just want you all to know that I have had very good success. With using tofacitinib 30% mixed with minoxidil. I have been doing this process topically for 3 months and have achieved full follicle growth! I will update you more in 30 days. And yes that is for male pattern baldness.”

Perhaps “nasa_rs” has influenced me too much and I am looking for any positive signs?

Aclaris Therapeutics Acquires Vixen Pharmaceuticals

In any event the whole reason for this post is that today came news that Aclaris Therapeutics was buying Vixen Pharmaceuticals (Dr. Angela Christiano and Columbia University affiliated company). At first, when I read a one paragraph news alert summary of this acquisition, I did not think much of this development. This is largely because in my recent trips to Aclaris’ website, I remember reading that they only deal with Alopecia Areata related drugs.

However, I then read a lengthier article about this latest acquisition and some things (see red font below) clearly stood out:

“As a result of this transaction, Aclaris acquired worldwide rights to intellectual property licensed to Vixen by Columbia University covering the use of certain Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitor compounds for the treatment of alopecia areata, androgenetic alopecia and other dermatological conditions.”

“The acquisition of the Vixen intellectual property and the licensed JAKPharm and Key Organics compounds solidifies Aclaris’ presence in the JAK inhibitor space and allows us to broaden our focus in hair loss to include androgenetic alopecia, often referred to as female or male pattern baldness,” said Neal Walker, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aclaris.

“We are delighted to enter into this agreement with Aclaris for the development of JAK inhibitors for alopecia areata, androgenetic alopecia, and other hair loss disorders,” said Dr. Christiano.”

In conclusion, welcome back “nasa_rs“.

Alopecia Areata, Angela Christiano, Brett King, Craig Venter, JAK Inhibitors, Martine Rothblatt

Angela Christiano, Brett King and JAK Inhibitors

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Dr. Angela Christiano, Dr. Brett King and JAK Inhibitors

The biggest news this month is Spencer Kobren’s latest interview with Dr. Angela Christiano. Half way through the video he specifically asks her about the potential of JAK inhibitors in treating androgenic alopecia. In my opinion, Dr. Christiano seems somewhat optimistic, although she wavers around the question a bit. JAK inhibitors seem to affect follicles via shifting them to growth phase from resting phase as well as via a positive impact on the underlying dermal papilla cells.

Hopefully this means there will be at least some benefit to all patients irrespective of the type of hair loss that they are suffering from. I still see it as a coin toss (i.e., a 50 percent probability of it helping people with male pattern hair loss too). On a related note, Dr. Christiano was also granted a patent on the use of JAK inhibitors to treat “a hair loss disorder” on December 1, 2015. The patent was filed on May 2, 2013.

Also extremely significant, Dr. Brett King has now successfully tested a topical cream formulation of JAK inhibitor ruxolitinib on a female patient suffering from alopecia areata. Her eyebrow hair grew back fully, while her scalp hair grew back partially. The cream has to be applied twice daily, which makes sense since Dr. Christiano in the earlier mentioned interview said that the half life of JAK inhibitors is very short.

A cream will in all likelihood almost entirely eliminate the chances of serious side effects. Even win oral JAK inhibitors, side effects seem rare so far. I recently even saw TV ads for arthritis JAK inhibitors, so hundreds of thousands of people are already taking these drugs orally.

Other Hair Loss News

— “Hellouser” has updated many more videos to his youtube channel regarding his interviews and presentation recordings from the recent 9th World Congress for Hair Research.

— Upon first hearing about PSG’s David Luiz claim that he has found a cure for hair loss, I was certain this was junk science or a scam. However, at the end of the article I read that the treatment in Brazil involves moving cells from the hip to the scalp. Considering that I have given so much attention to PRP and fat/adipose cells, I decided to keep this news here. I have no idea why the cells are taken from the hip and not elsewhere. Mr. Luiz does have superb hair, and I can see why (despite all his wealth and fame) he cares so much about keeping it that way.

And now on to medical items of interest:

— An interesting interview of Martine Rothblatt by Ray Kurzweil. Martine is a MTF transsexual, and I have mentioned several times on this blog about my theory that transsexuals have very high intelligence levels. Also see this must-read 9 page article on Martine.

— A new interview of Elizabeth Parrish by Dr. Ed Park. You can perform a search on this blog for Ms. Parrish to see her past videos.

— Google planning a needle-free way to collect blood. Are they one-upping Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos? See the end of my post on getting cheap blood tests.

— Dr. Craig Venter recently made a very interesting presentation on precision medicine and extending human longevity. We are lucky to live in an age where we can watch these superb videos for free online.