Category Archives: Fidia Farmaceutici

Brotzu Lotion, Fidia Farmaceutici

Brotzu Lotion Countdown Begins

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Update: April 15th 2018

— Dr. Brotzu’s entire presentation video is now available online. Keep in mind that this is not necessarily a summary from Fidia Farmaceutici itself. Hopefully, Fidia will update its website’s Brotzu lotion status later this year.

— The actual full presentation slides are available via the bellicapelli forums.

I first discussed the very interesting Brotzu lotion in early 2016. Since then, I have written several other posts in which I provided updates about the product, but all-in-all, there have been few major developments of note. Moreover, the product is supposedly not likely to benefit those who have lost most of their hair over five years ago. So its not a real cure for balding and hair loss, but nevertheless, a much needed potential alternative to existing hair loss medications Finasteride and Minoxidil.

The inventor of the product, Dr. Giovanni Brotzu, is now 83 years old. He is unlikely to make any further major breakthroughs at such an advanced age, although perhaps that is a moot point and the Brotzu lotion DGLA→PGE1 product is already as good as it can get for its particular chemistry.

Moreover, the patents for the Brotzu lotion and its potential future release are both in the hands of Fidia Farmaceutici (Italy) and not in the hands of the Brotzu family. The company last updated us in detail about the Brotzu lotion in January 2017 and concluded that:

We envisage the development of the potential product candidate being completed by 2018.

I am guessing that Fidia has its own researchers who are heavily involved with the product’s development, and Dr. Brotzu himself is now mostly an adviser.

Brotzu Lotion Status in 2018

Having said all that, the reason for this update is Dr. Giovanni Brotzu himself. Tomorrow, on April 14th, he is supposed to make an important presentation about his lotion at the Italian Society For Hair Science and Restoration’s annual conference. You can see a summary of this presentation on this page. When I translated the title, here is what came up:

Title of the Report: Liposomal solution containing DGLA, Equolo and Carnitene for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia.

If you live in Italy or are in the nearby vicinity, you can attend Dr. Brotzu’s lecture. More information after you scroll down in here. Questions will not be allowed.

  • There are a number of rumors online that the lotion could be released in the summer of 2018. I am skeptical that it can happen so fast, but that is probably why most people are so excited.
  • On Reddit Tressless, people have been going crazy about this since the beginning of this month. Eight of today’s top ten threads on there have the word “Brotzu” in their titles! Complete insanity.
  • Zero of the top ten threads on Reddit Tressless have the word “Aclaris” in their titles.  See my next blog post from later today for more on that.
  • Also make sure to follow the original still growing Italian forum thread on this subject as well as the gigantic HLT forum thread on this subject.
Aclaris Therapeutics, Fidia Farmaceutici, Follicum, Replicel

Brief Items of Interest, January 2017

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Hair loss news first:

— Replicel’s CEO provided a detailed 2017 forecast, and this was followed up by the release of an important PowerPoint presentation in which the company summarized 6-month results of their RCH-01 product (Note: they also mention finalizing 5-year safety data in the first quarter of 2017, which makes sense since they started initial clinical trials in 2012). Key current finding: “mean change in total hair density at 6-months = 6.1% vs 5.0% target“. 70 percent of responders saw a 14.3% average increase in density at 6-months. While they did not mention 12-month RCH-01 results, they do point out 12-month results from Finasteride (7-14% increase in hair density) and Minoxidil (8-16% increase in hair density) for comparison. Also of note, Replicel partner Shiseido’s Japanese clinical research findings are expected in 2018 along with a potential product launch in the same year.

— Aclaris Therapeutics made yet another presentation (pdf downloadable from their press releases page — I did not listen to the webcast), this time at the 35th Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. At the end of the report they mention that pre-clincial development is now underway for their topical ATI-50003 selective covalently binding JAK 3 inhibitor to treat androgenetic alopecia. However, nothing in the report mentions when they aim to start phase 1 clinical trials. I hope it will be before the end of 2017.

— Follicum announced patent approvals in Russia and in Japan. The company had earlier also announced that they were scheduled to complete the multiple dose part of their clinical phase I/IIa study in January 2017 at the prestigious Charité University Hospital in Berlin.

— Judging from the latest update from Fidia Farmaceutici (Italy), The Dr. Brotzu lotion will not come out as early as some people expected, and a lot of people on the forums got mad (but a few took it as a positive sign that Fidia is finally releasing dates even if ambiguous i.e., “development of the potential product candidate being completed by 2018“). Ever since I first wrote about Dr. Brotzu, I have not paid much attention to this product, but if you are inclined, go through the last 50 or so pages of this record breaking HLT thread and check out the various Italian hair loss forums out there.

— Also from Italy, some kind of PRP plus insulin type of treatment (hard to tell for sure after translation).

— Researchers identify how skin cells become hairy or sweaty during the embryonic stage of development. Actual study.

— Youtube celebrity Fouseytube got a toupee to cover his bald head and this led to quite a lot of online discussion, including on reddit. In the past, it has also been rumored that Fouseytube has received a scalp micropigmentation treatment.

And now on to medical items of interest:

— From a team led by the most famous hair loss researcher in the world Dr. George Cotsarelis (who has been at it for at least 20 years), comes a new study on how to heal wounds without leaving any residual scars. Key quote from Dr. Cotsarelis: “Essentially, we can manipulate wound healing so that it leads to skin regeneration rather than scarring. The secret is to regenerate hair follicles first. After that, the fat will regenerate in response to the signals from those follicles”. I have discussed the link between fat cells and hair cells many times on this blog, including in the last post on the arrector pili muscle. These latest findings were widely covered by the global media, with headlines such as “The End of Scars“. The Reddit thread on this blew up. However, as with all things Cotsarelis, headline grabbing findings, but one always gets the feeling that practical use will be at least a decade away unless other labs get in on the action.

— Babies born without mothers (via embryos made from male skin cells) will come sooner than expected warn scientists. Surreal.

— Designer babies: an ethical horror waiting to happen? I am all for it even if it turns out horrific.

— Alzheimer’s drug “tideglusib” helps rotten teeth regenerate, reducing the need for fillings.

— Chinese company implants 3D prints blood vessels into monkeys.