Category Archives: Follicum

FOL-005, Follicum, Osteopontin

Follicum Develops Direct-to-Scalp Formulation of FOL-005

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Follicum FOL-005
Follicum.

I have covered Swedish company Follicum numerous times on this blog in the past, including twice earlier this year. The company is developing a topical scalp hair stimulation product called FOL-005 that is based on the human protein osteopontin. Interestingly, a variation of this same drug will likely be developed by Follicum in order to reduce body hair. Definitely read my post on excessive body hair in men and its correlation with scalp hair loss.

Of the numerous companies in the world that are developing a treatment or cure for hair loss, Follicum is currently the most professional when it comes to its communications and its product development strategy. Their clinical trial time-frames for each stage have generally been accurate over the past few years. And they seem to be on schedule to continue to hit targets over the next year.

Follicum Topical Formulation Milestone

Earlier today, I got an e-mail from Follicum notifying me of their achieving a major milestone. The company has now successfully developed a direct-to-scalp topical formulation for their FOL-005 hair stimulation drug. This will in the near future replace their current method of delivery (intradermal injections) of FOL-005.

This new proprietary topical formulation is a non-running gel, making it easy to apply. The formulation remains stable for several years at room temperature storage. Moreover, the formulation is designed to ensure good skin penetration and distribution in both the epidermis and the hair follicles.

According to CEO Jan Alenfall, Follicum’s extensive experience in developing peptide drugs has enabled the company to develop a stable formulation that delivers FOL-005 directly to the hair follicle.

Company Advisory Board

While browsing through Follicum’s website today, I also noticed that their scientific advisory board page seems to have been updated recently. They now have a highly respectable and accomplished group of advisers, many of whom have been covered on this blog in the past. The most well known of these in the hair loss world are Dr. Gerd Lindner (Germany), Dr. Ralf Paus (UK/Germany), Dr Ulrike Blume-Peytavi (Germany) and Dr. Amos Golhar (Israel).

If all continues to go well in Phase II trials, it is not out of the question that Follicum’s hair growth product could be released around the end of 2020. However, this is not going to be a hair loss cure. Just a new hair loss treatment with no major side effects.

FOL-005, Follicum

Follicum Phase 2 Trials Update

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Sometimes, news items concerning major developments in the hair loss cure world suddenly bombard us like an incessant rainfall. This is certainly the case so far this month. Always a great feeling to get this type of drenching, but very time consuming. Earlier today, reader “Camaro” notified us that Sweden based Follicum’s latest investor presentation from the BioStock conference was already available on YouTube. See bottom of this post.

Although I just wrote a post earlier today, I decided to add this short one too since this Follicum CEO video presentation is worth a watch. I have covered this company and its FOL-005 hair loss product many times on this blog in the past. My February post that discussed Follicum is worth a reread. Currently, FOL-005 is in Phase IIA clinical trials (in early March they announced that the first patient in these trials was just treated).

Once you click on the link, the below video will start right after company CEO Jan Alenfall arrives on stage. Some very interesting slides in the presentation, including one with the implication that, at best, this product will work slightly better than topical Minoxidil. Such an upfront declaration makes me trust the company more. Note that oral Minoxidil works better than the topical.

The biggest news is that they are seeing a very high 75 percent successful response rate in initial results (Edit: Might have been referring to earlier trial results). They are testing out powder, cream and gel based topical formulations of FOL-005 in order to compound the best possible final topical product.

I am on Follicum’s mailing list and will add a link to the slides on here if they happen to send one.