At the end of March 2021, I read about a new South Korean company named Han Bio. Apparently, this company has managed to successfully develop a dermal papilla cell culturing technology.
Update: April 2025
Han Bio Aims for Phase 1 Clinical Trials in 2027
Han Bio is back after some prior delays and perhaps over-promises. In a press conference in Seoul on April 8, 2025, the company’s Chairman Kang Da-witt said that they would start Phase 1 clinical trials in 2027. Key quote:
“As the threshold for autologous cell therapy has been lowered with the revision of the Advanced Regenerative Biotechnology Act, we will collaborate with hospitals to promote rapid clinical entry and commercialization.”
Of most significance, the company has developed a mammary papilla-based tissue engineering product called HSF-101, delivered via a new microneedle based system. In an experiment, it led to hair growth of up to 0.6 mm. Moreover, in mice, it led to the formation of new hair follicle structures.
Quote from Mr. Kang:
“We will become a company that conquers hair loss with mammary papilla cells.”
Interestingly, Mr. Kang mentions that his own hair loss bothered him and is what initially led to the creation of Han Bio.
Update: March 2022 — Hanmo Bio gets approval for manufacturing advanced biopharmaceuticals. Per CEO David Kang:
“We got approval of the cell treatment facility last year, the entry into preclinical trials, and the recent approval for the manufacturing of advanced biopharmaceuticals. We are now standing at a very important start line for the fundamental and complete solution of the hair loss problem that Hanmo Bio is planning.“
South Korea’s President Says Government Should Pay for Hair Loss Treatments
Update: January 2022 — South Korea is the first country in the world to suggest that the government should pay for hair loss treatments. Thank you President Lee Jae-myung. It seems like I am not as libertarian as I thought. Please see the middle of this post for much more on South Korea’s leadership in hair loss research.
Lee Jae-myung said on Wednesday that hair loss coverage is necessary from the aspect of “body completeness.”
Update: October 2021 — Clinical trials will start in the first half of 2022. Han Bio will partner with Dt&CRO. The latter is South Korea’s first and only full-service contract research organization (CRO). Non-clinical trials will commence in November 2021.
Another article from March 2021, with CEO David Kang making a bold prediction:
“By collecting 50 to 100 healthy hair follicle tissues from the back of a patient suffering from hair loss, extracting the dermal papilla cells, cultivating them, and transplanting them back to the head, we can fundamentally cure hair loss.”
Of course at first I was incredulous. However, after further research, I decided that I should at least take the company semi-seriously. Han Bio’s blog is especially extensive. Some hair related articles on there go into many pages, so be sure to navigate thoroughly (after translation). Another version here seems to have additional news.
Note that when I contacted the company, they directed me to the above blog.
Han Bio’s Dermal Papilla Cell Storage and Culturing
Note that Han Bio is also called Hanmo Bio and Hanbio Group in news articles and on the company’s site. The externally located blog has some lengthy posts regarding this new technology. Some include images and video (screenshots further below).
In December 2020, Han Bio introduced its dermal papilla cell storage service called HDPC-480. The list price is 4.8 million South Korean Won ($4280 at current exchange rates). They offer a steep discount for the first 500 patients.
Note that in the western world, we have a similar option available via HairClone (UK). Moreover, HairClone has already been active for several years.
According to the balding CEO Kang Da-Witt (also called Kang David):
“Han Bio has secured technologies to separate and regroup the dermal papilla cells in hair follicles. It would take just a single strand of a patient’s hair to cultivate enough cells to reproduce around 30,000 hair strands.”
The company’s method is described as “chopping separation technology” after translation from Korean into English.
Han Bio has finished construction of its first plant, where the company stores and cultivates patient dermal papilla cells. These can then be cultured, multiplied and then implanted into the same patient via a hair transplant. This new plant will open by the end of May 2021.
Han Bio Clinical Trials and Patents
Han Bio will start clinical trials in the second half of 2021. According to CEO Kang Da-Witt, he expects that the time required for clinical trials will be shortened. This is due to a favorable new South Korean law which became effective on August 28, 2020. It is designed to help fast-track the market entry of regenerative medicine and biologics related products. Similar to Japan’s fast-track laws.
Han Bio is now preparing to apply for patents in the US, Japan and China. The are also open to out-licensing the technology.
Transplanting Someone Else’s Dermal Papilla Cells
From Han Bio’s extensive blog, one FAQ section caught my eye. It seems like the parent company of “Hanmo Bio” has successfully transplanted hair stem cells from one person to another. Without any immune reactions.
Obviously, this all sounds way too good to be true. But I have to prognosticate.
Asian countries dominate the world in the manufacturing of nano-scale semiconductors, microchips and integrated circuits. Perhaps our invisible-to-the-eye dermal papilla cells are next?
South Korea: Groundbreaking Hair Loss Treatments
South Korea is a world leader when it comes to plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures. When it comes to treating hair loss, South Korea is especially impressive in developing and/or using new technologies. For example:
- South Korea is one of only two countries in the world where Dutasteride has been approved for treating hair loss.
- The work of Dr. Kang-Yell Choi and CK Biotech in developing PTD-DBM to target CXXC5.
- PGD2 inhibition technology via Stemore (link no longer working).
- DKK-1 research and patent for locally-based Bioneer.
- My favorite: Allogeneic Person-to-Person Hair Transplants.
- South Korean companies are also at the forefront of developing stem cell related products, including AAPE and ADSC. Most such currently available products likely have limited to no benefits towards hair growth.
- Finasteride injections.
- Moogene.
- Epibiotech.
- OliX Pharmaceuticals and its RNAi based hair loss product.
- A disproportionate amount of research when it comes to hair growth from natural products. Especially from sea vegetables and algae.
Also from today, regarding South Korean company Inscobee:
https://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=10903
Their patent:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20180177716A1/en
Hi admin,
Any update on this?
Can you ask them for an interview?
I did, but they just referred me to their blog. They did answer my timeline question and said good chance trials can be completed before 2025 due to the new favorable regulations.
Hi Admin,
Any update from Hairclone? Are they still in position to offer cell injection this year to clinics?
Great thanks for the find, but are they working on hair cloning?and im not fond of ukhairclone they have nothing going on other than freezing your follicles !
If anyone wants to try and translate (patent?):
http://blog.naver.com/storyphoto/viewer.jsp?src=https%3A%2F%2Fblogfiles.pstatic.net%2FMjAyMTAxMDRfMTY0%2FMDAxNjA5NzI2MDQ2OTUx.rjfkvHWgp2M4uczXBi5O-vjMXRK_6vwW_nYjlMlw2bUg.ii3AsvJEecD4WCCjczkvMfDq_KkCQrwvKhvaGWsjpfMg.PNG.hanbio_official%2F201229-%25ED%2595%259C%25EB%25B0%2594%25EC%259D%25B4%25EC%2598%25A4-%25EB%25B3%25B8%25EB%25AC%25B8_2.png
One of their videos here:
https://blog.naver.com/PostList.nhn?from=postList&blogId=hanbio_official&categoryNo=6¤tPage=3
More Images:
https://blog.naver.com/hanbio_official/222204245855
Calling bs on this. If it sounds too good to be true….
“By collecting 50 to 100 healthy hair follicle tissues from the back of a patient suffering from hair loss, extracting the dermal papilla cells, cultivating them, and transplanting them back to the head, we can fundamentally cure hair loss.” Wait I’m confused so they take the dermal papilla cells from the follicles they then create hair follicles from that and then transplant to the person’s scalp? Or is this another replicel?
I have more hope for this company than Hairclone lol. Hairclone with their freezing hair follicles business lol. I dont want to say anything more.
Hello Admin,
I wanted to get your perspective on this: Do you believe the pandemic will drastically delay the availability of any possibly future cure for hair loss? I appreciate your opinion. Thanks!
@ADMIN @HLC2020 @hairlosscure2020
what is the movement at HopeMedicine?
When will they publish their website?
When will they Start trials For HMI-115?
More movement on CRISPR
https://interestingengineering.com/crispr-breakthrough-scientists-can-now-turn-genes-on-and-off-at-whim
Don’t see the hype, they’re doing the same thing hairclone are doing now and Aderans have done in the past, DP cell multiplication. We’ve already seen the results and they don’t grow new hair, just thicken existing.
Changing the way you administer it isn’t going to make any significant changes in outcome IMO.
I agree with you. Nobody even try to find alternative way to cure…
Hey Sahak…Check out this patent…WO1994005250A1..it’s an old 1994 which means it can be used by any one now…and it showed 100 % success rate…
I am in the process of buying the compounds and mixing it my self…
All the compounds are organic and they are sulfur based .
Where can i (we) find the updates on your mixing adventure?
I will report here…and hopefully will provide before after photos …
I think this patent is legit…and would be nice if other people give it. A try …
Have you read the claim and patent details ?
They talk as if they were already successful don’t they?
I don’t understand if this is another pretentious claim or they actually got something.
Anyway the idea that a company we’ve never heard before could come out of the blue and cure hair loss is fun
South Korea is doing big things
Thanks for making my morning with this fantastic news, Admin :)!
If half of what they say is true, they would have been acquired by now. they would have been billions eur worth. come on guys, almost a year ago a “start-up” biontech was discovered by pfizer and now they are playing for cancer treatments.
i would only believe if loreal or big pharma acquires them or make partnership with them
Reminds me of “Stemore” – appeared out of nowhere with groundbreaking treatments.
Then quiet for a long time and now with a much more conservative timeline and no public statements at all.
Han Bio‘s CEO looks like a character from “The Office”. Which makes him almost more credible than one of these over-the-top-styled model-like CEOs.
Great find, Admin. The more players the better!
Nice birthday present for me today.
Well if the CEO is balding we can focus on his head as proof of concept.
Happy Birthday!
Why would they need to transplant hair from one person to another if all you need is 50-100 hair follicles? I mean even Norwood 7 people can manage to find 50-100 hairs don’t you think?
Some with male pattern baldness preserve thick and healthy hair in the remaining horseshoe into old age. Many others, I’m one of them, have thin hair in the horseshoe which diminishes over time. The concern is that the hair follicles that are used from this area are not sufficiently long lasting. Would be good if someone could work out a method to determine whether a follicle is permanently immune to MPB. Indeed, that’s needed for person to person transplants as the donor follicles might also be susceptible.
Well, this may be similar to hairclone. But do you know the difference? In the western world something that will take 15 to 20 years to complete and get approved can be fast tracked in South Korea. And it’s proven South Korea has massive success, not necessarily with hair loss cures, but with things in a similar arena. This is definitely worth watching. Heck, I’m in the US and I’d fly to SK to get this done if I had to, though I don’t think I’d have to.
I think other cures (pharm) will “help” with hair loss but the only true cure is hair cloning. If they can clone them you can literally keep getting hair transplants until you’re happy with your thickness – if you’ve got the money, that is (meaning if you’re quite bald it’s going to be costly to clone and get then MANY transplants as it’s usually just 3-4K per procedures, typically).
I have a deja vu. Maybe they should consult replicel to learn where this will end. Even though I’d welcome a cure through cell injection over one with the manual transplant of cloned follicles, like tsuji wanted.
Admin, anyword on how the funding for 4.8 million for Dr tsuji to be able to start human trials is going? Either way i think most people who have researched this topic can relise that its not going to happen until the next decade mark my words.its just not feasable !
Found this today:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33431342/
If true, this would be a dream come true. I’m not getting my hopes up though. I blindly put all of my faith into Replicel and followed them closely for YEARS, only to be punched in the stomach.
I’ve never heard of this company or product and the effectiveness but it launched in Korea
https://www.google.com.au/amp/www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleViewAmp.html%3fidxno=10914
What’s the update on this?
This is potentially huge. In this time of despair, it’s nice to have some hope.
Well, it’s good news so I’ll take it. Better there than some other places – I think they’d get a product out to market sooner than many other countries. If the trials are all successful, of course. The tech is there…someone (hopefully them) just needs to commit and see it through.
By the time it enter phase 1 and complete phase 2 and 3, get market approval it will be 2032.
Not in South Korea. Maybe in the US. They have a better records with approving and marketing times. I mean, yeah, it’ll take a while still but not 2032 (if it works I mean).
Johnathan, if they release a cure (i.e. not just a treatment) by 2032 that would be a fantastic. We’ve been let down countless times over the past decade(s). So having a cure by then would be a miracle. I know that sounds bad to some of you, but that’s that reality we’re faced with
In 10 years I’m 60, but you are right and I hope that many young guys don’t have to ho what I and many others went through… I starting losing my hair when I was 20, nobody should lose hair so early.
If you are surfing at a hairloss blog at 50, then you will probably be here at your 60.
Han bio is just like replicel, it will not restore anyone’s hairline. We need hair cloning! I don’t understand why stemsons therapeutic is taking so long to do human trials (which will fail) my dermatologist already looked into them, but the point is they’ve already cloned human hair on mice and pigs and they were successful,why take 10 more years to start human trials? Which will fail.
South Korean presidential candidate promises baldness cure to get votes. For this reason, I think that one of the first countries that will take the lead in treating baldness is South Korea.
Guys anyone tried Clascoterone, Winlevi? It’s out now in the US?
This is the same as the companies hairloss treatment but at 1% concentration (instead of 7.5%) and supposed to be used for acne.
First pig heart in human transplanted. Great step for xenotransplantation. Its so sad that they try cloning instead of xenotransplant for hair..
I was 50/50 about writing a post on that development! Crazy.
I am more interested in person-to-person hair transplants (that do not require taking anti-rejection drugs). The research is based in South Korea, so it is hard to get new info.
Yeah thats right!! That would be a great step forward!
Ich wäre auch mehr als froh, wenn eine Haartransplantation von Mensch zu Mensch möglich wäre. Colin jahoda hat seine Zellen auf den Arm seiner Frau transplantiert und es wuchsen dort seine Haare ohne immunsuppressiva. Gibt es dort neue Erkenntnisse?
Yes, from South Korea. But no recent updates :-(
https://www.hairlosscure2020.com/allogeneic-hair-transplant-success/
I tried to contact them.
Until now i have no answer.
When colin jahoda way successful in hair transplantation to his wife why does no one try it? I tried to reach him several times but he did not answer.
How can we get in contact to him? He is in England. Admin, would you be so kind and try to contact him? That would be great!
Dear admin, When will han bio start human trials for hair cloning? And are they doing stem cell injections or actual hair cloning or both? If someone can please explain this to me I would be appreciative.
Seems that Hanbio has gone into partnership with Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital in regards to cell research, additionally they have started pre-clinical trials expected to be done by June, and they also expect to start clinical trials second half of 2022 through both 1 and 2a. studies.
So does this mean they still need pre-clinical approval? It isn’t entirely clear.
Do you still have an interview planned with Paul Kemp from Hairclone?
He will reach out to me when things progress further with the hair rejuvenation human use or trials:
https://www.hairlosscure2020.com/hair-rejuvenation-versus-hair-cloning/
I’m surprised that Hanbio was able to finance $40 million US to fund its preclinical and clinical trials when Tsuji could not even get a free salad at an all you can eat Salad Bar.
False information.
That’s a different „HanBio“.
Injecting cells into human head will not grown hair. Or it will grow, but not significantly, and hairs will died after year or two.
My opinion is that Han Bio give very false hope to the people with using words like ’cure’ and ’hair loss it will be thing of the past’.
Sorry, but growing hairs on mice and human heads are totally different things.
CEO of Han Bio has a chance to test his technology on himself, because he is having hair loss, as well, so we will have a valid proof that technology is working.
On what authority do you proclaim it wont work and that hairs will “die after year or two”?
If it is dht/testorone resistant cell from the back of the head it could work…and it could help women Who are on HRT because of menaupose or are treated for PCOS and for who the treatment stopped the hairloss but did not regrow haire (like me and plenty of others)…why do you say it won’t work?
What if your sides thin out as well, but not go completely bald. Will it still work for us?
Every bald man’s dream is a shampoo that can regrow all lost hair within 3 months, maybe one day, who knows.
…and not come in tiny bottles costing a bomb (including being widely available).
May 2022 update:
https://news.nate.com/view/20220509n32139
I’d say it’s suspicious, at least, that they suddenly stopped updating blogs since March. Compared with the previous frequency there must have been a big problem somewhere. Clinicals still in the second half?
As a Korean American, I know just how hardcore South Koreans are about their appearance. Like, hardcore. If any country is serious about curing hairloss, it’s South Korea.
https://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=22571
old interview for people. Seems like some native citizens have already deposited some hair cells. Will cost about $3.4k USD to store cells for up to 40 years.
They are planning to list on the Canadian market:
https://www.pharmnews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=218632
What does this imply admin?
I mean the listing.
It is hard to keep track of all the things that Han Bio is working on. Plus the translation is not always clear. I do not even recall reading the word “mammary” in the past and wonder if it is a mistranslation?
I did not put too much effort into analyzing the latest news about HSF-101. And whether the old clinical trial announcements were about something entirely unrelated, or connected to the HSF-101 technology. Some of the answers can probably be found on the company’s Naver blogs.
With all due respect, I don’t believe anything from this company. It’s a scam.
2027 is a year close enough to keep people excited and far enough to let people forget about it soon.
This is BS, like almost everything from South Korea. Don’t fall for it guys.
In the WhatsApp group of mostly hair loss professionals that I am a part of, South Korean exosome products, adipose cell products etc… seem to be praised regularly. And the country is among the world leaders in cosmetic procedures. So I am hopeful that not everything in hair turns out to be a scam.
Also, to be fair, virtually all western companies that I have covered since 2013 have turned out to be scams. Only interested in stock price increases via over-promises, fund raising being the only thing of importance, getting to Phase 3 trials and quitting etc…
Yeah we‘re doomed it seems. I don’t have any faith in SK-companies who are pursuing new products (established ones like exosomes I believe you).
The latest disappointment was Olix’ gargantuan trial length. Epibiotech‘s human trials were supposed to start in 2022. Moogene. JW Pharmaceuticals. Cosmerna, KeraMedix, CK Regeon. I am sure there are more.
CKD could become interesting though – topical Dut.
Anyhow – I personally have more trust in Western companies. It’s just a gut feeling.
What’s your personal feeling regarding the state of hairloss R&D at the moment? I think it never has been as dire before. To me it seems that Pelage is the only real contender – and we all know how fast it can go downhill. If Pelage falters, it’s lights out for the next 10 years.
If some of the Asian companies are being honest, I am happy with the state of hair loss R&D, especially if they can speed up trials. I hope OrganTech delivers, and Shiseido turns out to be more effective than Fin or Min.
My next post in a few days is going to surprise you big time… though it is also an Asian company that is likely over-promising.
Hopefully that’s a real deal. I except it too much.
What? Don’t make me curious! „Big time“ even? I‘m on board the hype train already!
But what makes you think Shiseido could be better than Fin/Min? All I know is underwhelming so far. Shiseido is not even on my radar.
I am hoping they can improve on past results after testing the injection procedure on many people. The trial results language was often a bit unclear in the past, and they had a limited number of participants. I can’t imagine that so many years of work from Replicel and Shiseido would result in less than Minoxidil type hair growth. Perhaps Finasteride level great long-term results (in the Japanese men study) is pushing it.
36 participants:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37752738/
65 participants:
https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(20)30272-3/abstract
I couldn’t agree more with you, Ben. I’ve long since lost hope for a solution. I can’t help but keep visiting this page because, five years after my transplant, my hair is miniaturizing again, and even though I take dutasteride and minoxidil daily, there’s no way to reverse the process. The problem with this is that as long as the focus is on money, there will never be a real solution, even though it’s currently possible.
Do you mean CKD-843 or something else? As that’s an injectable, just for improved patient compliancy.
“Rapid clinical entry and commercialization”. Hahaha what a joke. I don’t trust Korean, Turkish or Italian companies anymore.
But do you trust US, UK and German companies working on groundbreaking new hair loss treatments?
Have any of them succeeded since Minoxidil, Finasteride and Dutasteride came out?
Perhaps Shiseido (Japan) will be the first one in decades that gives some reasonable results in real life.
Well they dont have these huge promises since decades and then show nothing. The Germans and Americans show what they plan and do what they say. Its not just big mouth like these Koreans. And I also doubt these stem cell and clone companys work. The cure will come from a drug.
Follica, Histogen, Replicel, Stemson, Rivertown, Kerastem, Kythera, Samumed, Intercytex….I think there must be at least 20 western companies that I have covered regularly that are no more or are still in limbo like HairClone. Some tricked us for over 10 years before folding. The Asian way of fooling us is different from the Western way, but the biotech sector is full of scams globally.
:-) yes
Hi admin, what is your personal opinion on when the hair follicle cloning tech will become commercially available?
Hi Anna, if some Asian company cannot take shortcuts in clinical trials, it is going to take many years. I hope OrganTech (Tsuji) surprise us as they predicted 2020 in their prior iteration, before the funding debacle.
Also, my next post will be of interest to you, albeit it could also lead to nowhere.
Hi admin, eager to see your upcoming post. Without any shortcuts, when do you think it’ll become available? Thanks.
Hello admin, without any short-cuts by Asian firms, when do you think this technology will become commercially available? Thanks.
Your guess is as good as mine Anna :-)
It’s going to be long, long wait whatever comes along going on past experience. I’m currently still on low dose sublingual Min and low dose topical Fin. After the initial (expected) shed – which three months later – was substantial, my hair bounced back and looks/feels marginally thicker. At first, I thought it was just wishful thinking, but recent professional topical pics have backed this up too. After reviewing the pics, the doc also said the temples are coming in and some “baby” hairs are showing also. (Not too sure about that, I can’t see any, but there you go?!) I’m certainly not “delulu” when it comes to this sh*t, I’m a realist, so it’s certainly nothing to pop the champagne cork over just yet, but my scalp isn’t showing under the dreaded top lights anymore – which is better than a kick in the ping-pongs I guess? Still, it’s been said a billion times before…it’s 2025 and this is all we have that works – for some.
Summy my boy, great news, happy for you! Is this your first experience with oral minoxidil? Sounds similar to mine and we are of the same age, however I eventually lost ground. Mine was the garden variety standard 10mg pill, wondering if the sublingual version has the enhanced magical properties we’ve heard of? If you previously took oral minox and are having enhanced benefits from sublingual that would be even more promising!
SummyKim, can you remind us again about your doses. I assume you get it prescribed directly from Dr. Sinclair’s office?
Also, why not take the combination “Hairy Pill” from Sinclair instead? Or are you worried about the sides from oral Finasteride?
https://www.hairlosscure2020.com/the-hairy-pill-from-dr-rodney-sinclair/