Category Archives: Replicel

3D Bioprinter, Almirall, Anthony Atala, COL17A1, Replicel, Senescent Cells, Takashi Tsuji, Wake Forest University

Biotechs Target Baldness Market

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Biotechs Target Baldness Market

— The latest issue of Nature Biology has an interesting article titled “Biotechs target stagnant baldness market.” My favorite and at the same time least favorite sentence from the article: “It’s been 25 years since Propecia (finasteride), from Merck of Kenilworth, New Jersey, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1992.”

— Thanks to commentator “nosyu” from Japan for posting a link with news from today regarding hair and skin focused Japanese company Adjuvant Cosmetics. It is partnering with Dr. Takashi Tsuji (RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology) and Organ Technologies to conduct joint research on product development for hair and scalp problems.

— Of all the researchers and companies involved in the hair loss world, Replicel has provided us with the most regular updates. This past month has been no exception. Here is a new video with Replicel’s CEO Lee Buckler starting his presentation at 16:11. The presentation was part of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)’s “Investing in Japan” conference in Toronto, Canada that took place on January 29th 2016. The focus of the conference was on Japan’s booming regenerative medicine market. Lee also discusses Replicel’s partner Shiseido.

— Study from Japan suggests that COL17A1 (collagen gene) could be a new target for therapy in preventing hair loss.

— Kerastem clinical trial page was updated at the end of January 2016. Go under the locations section of that page to see if there is a clinic near you where you can volunteer. US only for now it seems.

— Excellent new article summarizing latest hair loss treatment options. One of the co-authors is the famous Dr. Antonella Tosti.

— Polichem (which is working on a topical Finasteride product called P-3074) was purchased by Spain’s Almirall. Also see this new positive study from Italy on P-3074.

— Irish men are increasingly opting for hair transplants like Wayne Rooney. Is a reduction in alcohol consumption next?

And now on to medical items of interest:

— Partisanship in the US hurting 21st Century Cures Act. Thank goodness for Japan, Canada, UK and probably some other countries by now.

— I have discussed Dr. Anthony Atala and the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine several times on this blog before. This week, both were widely covered by the media due to the completion of their 3D bioprinter that can make bone, cartilage and muscle (a culmination of 10 years of work it seems). Full journal article here. No mention about hair in there, but a Canadian team’s 3D bioprinter related article from 2014 mentions the eventual feasibility of adding hair follicles to the new skin. Some quotes from Dr. Atala here.

— UK scientists get gene editing go ahead. Now western scientists may become less prone to criticize the Chinese too much like they did last year.

— Oldest heart transplant recipient dies 33 years after getting a new heart. Amazing story. In another article I read, his son said that he died from kidney problems and still had no heart problems.

— If you have older family members that you want to live longer, you might want to find a sketchy doctor who can help remove their senescent worn out cells without government approval.

— A major boost for cryonics.

— A major boost for cancer treatment (using immune cells).

Histogen, Replicel, World Congress for Hair Research

Updates from the 2015 WCHR and Related News

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The 9th World Congress for Hair Research just ended in Miami and there is a surprising lack of online publicly available information regarding key developments. Some companies often publish their presentations on their websites several days after the end of such conferences, so I will update this post in the next week as new information comes out.

2015 Word Congress for Hair Research (WCHR) Updates

— Update: 9th World Conference for Hair Research abstracts now available online.

— Update: Below is the unbelievable before and after image from Histogen’s Dr. Gail Naughton’s presentation that everyone is talking about (Edit: Image was later removed from source site).

— Update: Hellouser’s YouTube channel.

— The best place to get updates remains Hellouser’s thread on the HLT forums. He is apparently back in Canada and fatigued at present, but will slowly update that thread (or perhaps create new threads on different companies in that portion of the HLT forums). He is going to load his audio files somewhere outside the forums too.

— Samumed came out yet another press release today, summarizing its presentation at the Miami Congress. I am getting more optimistic about the company’s unique SM04554 topical product that tackles hair loss via the Wnt pathway. At present, the company has only concluded that the product is very safe based on its recently completed 300 person trial (interestingly, one of the co-organizers of the 2015 WCHR, Dr. WIlma Bergfeld, was involved in this trial via the Cleveland center).

Actual data on new hair growth will come out as it becomes available, which I am hoping will be in early 2016. The conclusion of the press release is encouraging, even if not pertaining to humans: “SM04554 has been shown to generate new hair follicles and increase hair count in multiple animal models.” At the same time, we have to be wary from past experiences that all these press releases could very well be just a means to attract publicity and funding. The final product could at best always end up being no better than Rogaine.

— I am disappointed that the 2015 WCHR Twitter account has been completely silent during and after the Congress. It is unlikely that they will publish anything this week either, but maybe it is still worth keeping an eye on that account before it ends in Twitter purgatory. Maybe “Helllouser” should get the wwww.twitter.com/2016WCHR account now while no-one has it and then tell the Japanese organizers of next year’s Congress that he will do a much better job of updating it?

— I discussed Allergan twice in this blog recently (see here and here) and it seems like the company is now definitely merging with Pfizer. Together, the new entity will be by far the world’s largest pharmaceutical company. Too early to tell how if at all this will impact the release of Allergan’s Bimatoprost and Setipiprant drugs to treat hair loss.

— Replicel usually publishes its latest presentation on its website and announces them via its Twitter account.

— Histogen remains the big mystery. A few months ago, most people had given up on it. Then things changed and I wrote this post. Now “Hellouser” is saying that he was very impressed with their presentation. I am really looking forward to his interview with CEO Gail Naughton.