I first covered RiverTown Therapeutics and its RT1640 hair loss product briefly in June 2016. My opinion of this company at the time can only be described as being highly skeptical.
RiverTown Therapeutics RT1640
This changed slightly in December 2016, when I wrote a post on Cyclosporine and hair growth. In that post, I discussed RiverTown’s RT1640 in much more detail. This product consists of three small molecule drugs that each work via different pathways and mechanisms:
- Cyclosporine A — FDA approved and off-patent.
- Minoxidil — FDA approved and off-patent.
- RT175 — A proprietary new chemical entity. Still needs FDA approval.
The final topical product will therefore entail synergistically attacking hair loss via three distinct mechanisms. According to RiverTown:
“One drug promotes the growth and migration of new stem cells, one drug promotes the commitment of the follicular stem cells to become new hair and one protects the dermal papilla from the effects of DHT.”
Note that RT1640 is equally effective in men and women. RiverTown’s science page has some other items of interest.
Dr. David Weinstein
Last month, The New Yorker magazine ran a cover story about the pending arrival of a cure for hair loss. To my huge surprise, they gave the most amount of coverage to RiverTown Therapeutics and its co-founder Dr. David Weinstein. Of the large number of companies working on a cure for hair loss, I would definitely not put RiverTown in my top 5. Nevertheless, I now do take this company much more seriously than I did in the past.
Moreover, RiverTown is one of the main companies that will be featured in a soon-to-publish article on future hair loss treatments from NewBeauty magazine. In that article, Dr. Weinstein claims that he is hopeful that RT1640 will be available in 2022 via prescription. Both as a topical lotion scalp hair loss product, and a cream eyebrow hair loss product.
I therefore finally contacted Dr. Weinstein about his RT1640 product. He was more than happy to respond to me, and sent the below photos of his own before and after RT1640 scalp hair. The second photo was in a pdf document and lost some quality after extraction. I may try to get a better version.
Dr. Weinstein told me that:
- They are currently seeking funding to move into Phase 2 trials.
- He is convinced that RT1640 grows back lost hairs in their original pigmented format. i.e., the drug can reverse achromotrichia.
- The proprietary molecule RT175 has been tested in 650 patients to date, with no safety issues.
As I’ve said time and time again, 4 years to get out a product that has 2 out of the 3 ingredients FDA approved and the 3rd with usage data in hundreds of patients, is poor.
In regards of the pics, ludicrous with all due respect. A man of his stature should at least be able to send a clear pic of the same spot, same angle etc.
That said, I don’t believe its a scam the product def works but I think will be of limited worth in 2022..Frankly a topical fin cream without sides would be better
I agree.
It also take years for companies like Polichem to market their topical FIN product. How hard is it to get (modified) FIN approved, a drug which has already been cleared by the FDA and EMA …
17 years from discovery to patient >> How horrible is that!
The answer is 17 years, what is the question: understanding time lags in translational research
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3241518/pdf/JRSM-11-0180.pdf
NARROWING THE 17-YEAR RESEARCH TO PRACTICE GAP
http://ajcc.aacnjournals.org/content/25/3/194.full.pdf
Closing the 17-year gap between scientific evidence and patient care
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/closing-17-year-gap-scientific-evidence-patient-care/
How many years is Cots already doing the finishing touch. Just release it sir George, anything new is better than oldskool Fin and Min.
I might be part of this Wave. Just come out with REAL products that we Can Buy. Then we will tell them what works.
The hair world is all Talk and No Action.
You can get professional scalp photography done quite cheaply. Why many of these companies do not utalise this method is beyond me? Your chin is placed in a plastic hold, with head tilted forward and hair parted in the centre. The angle and lighting is exactly the same each time you go in. No offense Admin, not dissing the product-it could be great, but these pics look like they’ve been shot by Ruprecht the Monkey Boy!
Odd that with such claims to be the cure to then be releasing such poor before and after photos is far from what any clinician would claim or see as evidence, I doubt anyone will take this seriously todate. It appears a cash injection of $15 Million someone has, I ll be keeping my eye on Rivertown
From the photos provided, I can notice two things,
1) The hair has changed colour from white to dark grey,
2) At best, the few hair regrown is only suitable for a combover.
Since I started to shave my head when I still had more hair than this entrepreneur above, regretfully, I cannot feel optimistic about the results, as I would still have to shave my head should I get the same results.
Given the before and after photos your previous decision to ignore this company was the best choice.
Lol at the photos flash before dark afters. Absolutely unimpresses
This seems like a great product. But wish they told us more about the third ingredient that they invented. Is it a DHT blocker?
There are better, more impressive before and after photos on their website:
https://www.rivertowntherapeutics.com/rt1640/
That’s better results that I have gotten from finasteride + minoxidil + lasercomb
What are your views about Phyto re 30 to reverse grey hair ?
With 2 of the three ingredients are FDA approved, and the new one has real world use in hundreds of real people, and we need to wait YEARS to see it. What on earth are they doing it with trying to grow trees? It makes no logical sense. The FDA needs to be overhauled, and needs a way to better classify risky drugs vs less risky ones. Fast track less risky ones. Its not changing your immune system or fighting cancer. Its lowering one single protein.