Category Archives: Valkyrie Group

Aneira Pharma, Cyclosporine, Latanoprost, Travoprost, Valkyrie Group

Aneira Pharma gets $25 million from Valkyrie Group

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A new hair loss company named Aneira Pharma has come to my attention thanks to reader “James”.

Aneira PharmaSeveral days ago, it was announced that Valkyrie Group will invest $25 million in Aneira Pharma. This is a substantial amount of money to invest in a hair loss startup. For comparison, RIKEN is only asking for $4.8 million and has already been conducting hair loss research for several decades.

Update: Valkyrie’s CEO answered some questions in the comments.

Valkyrie’s news page also has this story. The before and after photos on Aneira’s site are very impressive for a topical hair loss product. The current name for this product is ANR-001. Aneira has yet to start Phase 1 clinical trials in humans. However, based on the likely already-in-use ingredients in its hair loss product, I am hoping that future trials can proceed fast.

Aneira Pharma’s Hair Loss Patent

One of the members of our hair loss chat found the likely patent behind Aneira Pharma’s hair loss product. The inventor, John Wurst, is also Aneira’s founder, president and CEO. The patent was published in February 2021.

Among the extensive list of ingredients listed in the patent, the most frequently mentioned ones that will likely be in the product include:

  • Prostaglandin analogues, with Latanoprost being a certainty. Also possibly included will be Travoprost. Make sure to see my past posts on Bimatoprost, which caused a lot of excitement in the hair loss world a few years ago. Latanoprost and Travoprost are examples of prostaglandin F2α analogs. Bimatoprost is a prostamide F2α analog. All three of these products are used to treat glaucoma and reduce pressure in the eye. Bimatoprost (via the brand Latisse) has also been widely used in the cosmetic world to make eyelashes grow longer. Interestingly, John Wurst served as lead patent attorney for Latisse and other hair growth products in the past.
Latanoprost for Hair Growth
Latanoprost for hair loss presentation at the EHRS Conference in 2018.
  • Cyclosporine. See my past posts on Cyclosporine as well as on WAY-316606. A company named Rivertown Therapeutics was also using Cyclosporine in its hair loss product, but ended up shutting down last year.
  • Minoxidil. See my post on how Minoxidil works to treat hair loss. As of 2021, Minoxidil is still one of only two drugs ever approved by the US FDA to treat male and female pattern hair loss. With the other being Finasteride.

Interestingly, Aneira’s product will also make hair darker.

The word “Finasteride” also makes a number of appearances in the earlier mentioned patent. I hope they add topical finasteride into the mix too.