Category Archives: Gail Naughton

Follica, Gail Naughton, Histogen, PureTech Health

Follica and Histogen Updates

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I was not planning to write a new post for several days, but there have been two important developments that are worth discussing now.  I will update this post in more detail later if necessary.

Follica and Histogen Updates

  • First, Histogen has finally published a summary of its presentation at the recent Stem Cell Summit in Boston that I discussed before. I e-mailed the company and to my surprise, they sent me a pdf of their presentation that was made by CEO Dr. Gail Naughton.
  • Second, if you recall, a month ago I wrote a post on Follica’s surprising return from being taken as almost dead by many people. That post happened due to HLT forum member Xaser94’s great research, which he outlined in his now very popular thread. Several days ago, forum member “Noisette” made an interesting post in that same thread (see page 8) with a link to a 271 page prospectus document from PureTech Health (majority owner of Follica) from June 2015.

There is a goldmine of information in there with some superb images. The main Follica section starts on page 101. Encouraging quote:

“Through the administration of Follica’s procedure by a trained clinician and use of its at home  ‘‘connected’’ device (meaning it is coupled with a digital service such as a companion smart- phone application) the company seeks, in the near-term, to significantly improve the treatment expectations and satisfaction of hair loss patients by providing a more effective alternative to current FDA-approved drugs.“

I also want to give kudos to Mike, who e-mailed me some useful information on this development. This is the same Mike that I discussed in my Follica post from a month ago. This time, I will only paste part of his e-mail:

“This section stands out, and there are many standouts: 

Follica’s patented platform employs a technique called targeted cutaneous perturbation (or TCP) to stimulate the growth of new follicles, followed by treatment with: (i) select, approved drugs indicated to be synergistic in maximising the quantity, quality and persistence of new hair, or in other cases (ii) new chemical entities that modulate pathways involved in the development of the hair follicle.

It’s the new chemical entities that interests me. Could there be a treatment and then an upgrade treatment further down the line? A partnership with another company perhaps? Maybe one that’s related to a certain Neal Walker?”

In seems like in the past month, most of my posts have been heavily influenced by commentators on this blog, e-mailers, hair loss forum posters and even one hair loss chat participant on this site.

Gail Naughton, Hair Stimulating Complex (HSC), Histogen

Histogen’s Update from the Stem Cell on the Mesa Conference

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Histogen’s excellent presentation from the Stem Cell on the Mesa Conference is finally available online and I have embedded the youtube video at the end of this post (hair loss related presentation is just under 3 minutes long).  Thanks to “Noisette” for letting me know about this in one of the comments under the above linked post, as well as to “the X” for letting me know in the hair loss chat. Also see Histogen’s presentation from last year.

I am not surprised about Histogen’s decision to get their final clinical trial for its male pattern baldness product done in Japan in early 2015, especially after Shiseido (aka Replicel) announced their intention to start trials in Japan during the first half of 2015.  Since starting this blog, I have frequently discussed the high likelihood of hair loss cures becoming approved in heavily populous Asia before anywhere else in the world, but I always thought that experiments, trials and approvals would be spread across the region, especially in developing countries such as China, India and Thailand. It is truly a wonderful surprise to instead see developed technologically advanced Japan dominating this sphere.

Histogen’s Hair Stimulating Complex (HSC) product seems to be significantly better than Replicel’s product as far as increase in long-term terminal hair counts go, although it was not entirely clear to me whether Replicel’s results were based on using a very low dosage or not, and how much better the results would be with higher doses assuming safety was not compromised.  Histogen’s results indicate efficacy in all areas of the scalp as well as on people over the age of 40.

For the female readers of this blog, the below video also shows that this treatment works for women too!  Although Histogen’s clinical trials (in the US) for women’s hair loss are well behind the trials for men’s hair loss, I wonder if women will be able to access the men’s product (administered via injections) as soon as it is approved and comes out?

FYI — US and EU citizens do not need to get visas to travel to Japan…but maybe I am getting ahead of myself here:-)