Hasson & Wong Topical Finasteride Update

My 2014 post on topical finasteride became one of the most popular ones ever written on this blog. This was not surprising, as literally hundreds of thousands of people around the world are nervous about taking oral finasteride. They are hoping to switch to or start a topical version as soon as possible.

It seems like the topical version will results in fewer side effects and less systemic absorption, although this idea is still debated. Different topical formulations will probably have significantly different levels of systemic absorption depending on technology used.

One can get topical finasteride compounded at any local compounding pharmacy. My own local one said that they fulfill one or two such request each month. However, hair loss sufferers have for years been hoping for reputable multinational pharmacies to manufacture the product. In recent years, two entities have taken the lead in making this finally happen:

  1. Switzerland-based Polichem (now Almirall) via its P-3074 product.
  2. The Canada-based Hasson & Wong clinic via its topical liposomal gel product developed in conjunction with Farmacia Parati of Italy.

Hasson & Wong’s Topical Finasteride Finally Here?

A few days ago, the Hasson & Wong clinic announced on its blog that topical finasteride was finally a done deal and available with a prescription globally! However, their blog post was later removed from their website.

Dr. Hasson Explains

Dr. Victor Hasson has posted on this blog before, and I have talked to him about this via phone in the past. Therefore, I decided to call him last Thursday and find out more about why that blog post was removed. Luckily, he was kind enough to talk to me right away.

According to Dr. Hasson, the reason that the blog post was removed is due to some legal issues and clarifications that are still pending. Throughout the course of developing this topical product, their clinic has had to deal with numerous regulations. I assume that they have to adhere to Canadian regulations, European EU regulations, and US regulations. Dr. Hasson mentioned numerous hurdles and headaches involved in following all these protocols.

In any case, Dr. Hasson is extremely confident about this product. While oral finasteride does not cause major side effects in the vast majority of patients that take the drug according to most studies, there are still some patients who seem to get long-term problems. Usually less than 5 percent, although some recent studies suggest a higher number.

Topical finasteride will likely resolve this issue. According to Dr. Hasson, in the past around 50-60 percent of their patients were on oral finasteride. However, lately this number has declined to around 20 percent. Not surprising considering all the “I am scared of finasteride side effects” threads that we have been reading on hair loss forums in the past year. Not to mention news items about Propecia lawsuits.

The most exciting things that Dr. Hasson told me about this silicone based liposomal gel topical finasteride product were that:

  1.  It will not be systemically absorbed to any significant extent. In the deleted blog post, it said the topical finasteride systemic absorption rate will be 1/18th the systemic absorption rate of oral finasteride.
  2.  Every morning (or night) when you shower, the silicone in the product will be washed away entirely from your scalp. So that silicone is probably not dangerous, as some have suggested on the forums.

Note that this product is not FDA approved, as the cost and time-frame involved in getting that done is excessively high. So if you do end up using this gel and getting any kind of side effects, I am not responsible whatsoever. It is worth repeating here what I have said a few times before: any hair loss products that you buy should never ever be based on my opinions. I am not a scientist, nor a doctor, nor well versed in biology or chemistry.

European prescriptions will be handled by Farmacia Parati. Canada and US prescriptions will be handled by a local pharmacy in the vicinity of the Hasson & Wong clinic in Vancouver. This pharmacy will be compounding the product themselves. H&W have been using this pharmacy for many years and consider them reliable and trustworthy.

So in summary, we are very close. Moreover, hopefully Polichem will release their P-3074 product in the next year or two so that we can have two choices. Dr. Hasson said that topical dutasteride is next in line. Great idea, considering that my dutasteride for hair loss reviews post is also extremely popular.

FYI — For those in Europe, make sure to read the Italian hair loss forum thread on Hasson & Wong’s topical finasteride gel product. Right click and select “translate to English” via your browser if necessary.

101 thoughts on “Hasson & Wong Topical Finasteride Update”

    1. According to Dr. Hasson’s quote at the top of my original topical finasteride post, both topical and oral results are similar. However, I also remember reading something in the past that the topical version is better.

      On a somewhat related note, topical JAK inhibitors grew hair faster in mice compared to oral/internal JAK inhibitors:

      https://www.hairlosscure2020.com/huge-development-ruxolitinib-and-tofacitinib-could-also-regrow-hair-in-androgenic-alopecia/

  1. i talked one day on this form to a guy who is using dr. hasson topical finasteride versionn and told me that he got side effects.
    what about Polichem will release their P-0374 product news?

    1. There have been several people on forums who have tried this topical version of finasteride and still had side effects from it unfortunately

  2. Can someone explain to me how this is supposed to work without going systemic? Finasteride blocks testosterone from being converted to dht, what’s stopping dht created in other parts of your body from flowing to your scalp? This should only stop the conversion of what little dht that is created locally in your scalp.

  3. There is already a topical 5AR inhibitor, Alfatradiol which a study showed that it slowed down or stopped hair loss (in women) but did not result in regowth. Pantostin comes with 0.25mg/ml so a 3ml dosage would be 0.75mg, however how much of that actually gets absorbed into the scalp is anyone’s guess.

    Ideally what we want is something that blocks the DHT from attaching to the Androgen Receptor at the follicle, Vitamin E succinate was shown to block the AR for prostate cancer cells.

    1. If you don’t want to use it just DONT!! Nobody is forcing you to use it. Finasteride will be in the markets and will keep saving thousands of hair loss sufferers till a new treatment or even a cure reaches the market. Next time don’t mention my name with these stupid links you keep posting unless if there is a new treatment or good news.
      Thanks

  4. Question for admin
    Could this be used along side minidoxil say minidoxil in morin time and topical fin gel at nite time, or if used the other way around would the silicone in topical fin block the aborasition of the minidoxil.

  5. Hey Admin thanks for the defense in the previous post, i know hairloss is dificult for everyone but reading some posts here about HT and the tipical “we need a new treatment and stop using what we have nowdays” make me sick, i know we need something better, but at least we have something right now, actually a good FUE allows you to shave your heads and not see that you’ve had a HT (if it well done of course) so, stop saying HT is Sh*t , and wanna make clear that im not here to recommend a HT, not even Fin or Min, im just saying that we need to stop get angry with the world and thinking in conspiracy theories, things are getting better in the hairloss world, so let’s wait for it fixing our problems with the things we have now, companies are working on it, so stop thinking that they want us to use min/fin/dut/ht for the rest of our lifes, there are a lot of money on the game if one company get something better that the currents treatments, so guys, be patience, everything comes.

    Cheers!

  6. Wow, that’s incredible news. Did your research evince whether the topical solution may retain efficacy for those whom propecia lost its use?

  7. Admin,
    Is there an expert you could contact regarding the theory of topical fin? From what I hear, it HAS TO go systemic to work. Fin doesn’t inhibit 5-ar at the follicle level.

    Hasson and Wong seem to be going commando – exempt from clinical proof, or even providing any kind of research or literature on how it works.

    1. Hi breyfogle, there are number of studies on pubmed regarding topical Finasteride working. I would also think it unlikely that a company such as Polichem would get involved with lack of evidence of efficacy. Also, in my original topical fin post, please see the section under the blue text where I discuss Iranian and Thai findings. Finally, the Merck patent has a number of mentions of topical Fin (do a ctrl-F search for all mentions of “topical finasteride” in the below link):

      http://www.google.com/patents/US5547957

      It seems like the main issues are the carrier and a slow release mechanism.

  8. The Polichem test didn’t look at hair count at all.

    http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN19708972

    They just tested to see how much Fin was absorbed in the scalp vs systemic. But fin isn’t what stops hair loss. The inhibition of the 5-ar enzyme is what stops it.

    I get mad sides from Fin, so I’d love a topical. But no one is clarifying why a topical should work theoretically outside of going systemic.

  9. Topical Fin might be a gamechanger.

    On the other side … If my little brother would be balding later in life, and he asked me what my thoughts were on oral Fin and oral Saw Palmetto, I am sure I would not recommend Fin nor Saw Palmetto.

    Why? I had the same side effects with oral Saw Palmetto as other people report with oral Fin. If my temporary Saw Palmetto sides were only half as horrible as those of Fin, then using oral Fin sooner or later might turn into permanent hell for some of the users.

    Me, I’d rather die in Heaven with hairloss.

    I am not here to bash people who use it and benefit from it, I just would not recommend oral FIN/SP to those I love!

      1. I used oral Saw Palmetto for 8 weeks, then the whole situation went wrong. At some point I experienced 50% of the side effects which are reported in case of oral FIN. I actually only looked up my Saw Palmetto symptoms on internet. Almost every Google search directed me to the list of possible FIN side effects. I was perplexed.

        I stopped taking SP immediately, however I experienced for the next 4 weeks, 75% (so it got worse!) of the list of possible FIN side effects. It’s about your eyes, your chest, your digestive system, your brain, your sexuality, etcetera.

        After those 4 weeks, everything disappeared. For me, it was like winning the jackpot, I was healthy again. SP is not for young people, it’s only for older people with bad urinary functions or bad sexual functions caused by the prostate.

        1. Not sure, I took like 4-6 SP pills a day and I didnt notice anything, stopped because I was still slowly balding and it was adding up, so just decided to stop and save the money.

  10. Netshed – I too used saw palmetto. I tried that prior to taking finasteride. It gave me similar sides to fin. I had no idea SP gave sexual sides and even went to the doctor for it. Then I stopped for a month and no problems whatsoever. Startes fin – immediately started up, but worse.

    Id love something that gave me hair regrowth without sides. I am interested in learning more on topical finast. I just wish we had a release date for SM04554 and some photos of regrowth.

  11. Will topical fin boost the effectiveness for those who have been on fin for over 10 yrs like me? As most of you know it lost effectiveness for me and I’m hoping topical fin can kick start the effectiveness again and strengthen my hair and stop thinning

  12. Doesn’t make sense; how would a non-systemic absorbed finasteride work at the follicle level? As far as i know, DHT is not created within the scalp, it’s converted elsewhere and is simply coursing through your body and attaches at receptors in the scalp (among other places), so how would a topical 5AR2 blocker work in this case?

    Wonder what the dosage is as well, since .05 mg(1/20) FIN has almost the same response as 1MG, therefore applying 1MG topical finasteride daily (even if only 1/18th gets absorbed) still gives you enough dose for a full response.

    hmm

  13. Aah man.. I just wish if they can make atleast something artificial but looks almost natural…not like stupid toupees with monthly maintenance and all..something which lasts atleast few years….

  14. I was on oral fin for 4 years when I was really young. Sides are not just in your head, they are real. I had to quit, and am now “back to normal,” albeit with rapidly accelerating hair loss now. If this topical really only absorbs systemically 1/18th what the oral did, then I would be willing to try it again.

  15. Sides are not in your head. Very real. I made fun of the comments about sides before it happened to me. I thought it was only people who had problems before being on the drug. Then it happened. Dermatologists who do not use the drug like to believe it is in our heads though, so it goes unreported.

  16. Phoenix what are you talking about. We have neogenic, tricomin, and a whole bunch of other snake oil treatments that are super effective and worth the money hahahs jk. Let’s hope for samumed or a surprise release of follica. Anybody know if susheido or histogen start their phase 2 yet.?

  17. Let’s just say Follica does work and creates a bunch of new follicles, what’s stopping those follicles from being attacked and becoming minaturised as soon as they start to grow?

    1. I think it would take some time until you begin to balding again and replicel will be an effective treatment for maintance the hair loss. You could basically do both of those treatments.

      1. Well, seriously… You may have to do the procedure from time to time, just that, and that also makes it more profitable and interesting from the company’s point of view.

        I don’t mind having it done, let’s say, once a year for the rest of my life as long as it brings my healthy hair back.. That’d be a priceless thing!!!

  18. I agree with julian! I would pay for follica procedure every year if it gave me a thick nw 2 from hairline to crown. Like no joke I would drop 5k a year if it promised full head of hair and I didn’t have to rub rogaine on my head and take propecia every day . The feeling of not worrying about hair loss anymore is priceless! What pisses me off as that we have to deal with this crap and it’s 2016. It’s truly unacceptable for anyone to lose hair this day and age . Medical science should be ashamed of their progress.

  19. Ok guys, what is your prediction for next big news? Is it:
    A) follica announces big news of treatment release within two years?
    B) samumed announces treatment release within two years?
    C) Histogen announces treatment release within 1.5 years?
    D) Other

  20. I wonder why people get mad when I say cots is the king of hair loss! They tell me what did he do and they say Cristiano is better or more advanced. Well she did not do anything too and just cured maybe 2 patents accidentally. Cots knows a lot about hair loss but keep things so secret. While I consider cots the king of hairloss research, I consider lauster the king of hair cloning, he is working under the radar trust me ; )

  21. Yes it s*cks when you go bald. It’s a hard thing to cope with. Everyday living in a sort of stress and trauma. Especially when you ‘ve got an hernia too and cannot work out. The day i die will be the most beautifull day. I don’t see any solution for hairloss.
    Maybe reading the Bibble ?

    We just don’t know. Live is the most cruel thing there is. I hope i get some cancer soon.

    Probably i will.

    Regards.

    1. You can work out with hernia. My brother is Bald too and is a fit Bald and happy with shave head. Go and do swimming.

    2. Don’t even joke about cancer, or compare baldness in anyways to cancer. You can get a surgery for a freakin hernia.

  22. Shit Bart don’t say that man. I know it’s bad bro but wish for death. In two years something will come out. If nothing does then I give you permission to talk all pessimistic. Are you completely bald like nw7?

    Khourli I agree with you that cots is the king of hairloss. He will pop out of nowhere with a great treatment. I like how Ken washenik is part of his team. That means cots will most likely partner with Bosley medical centers to give out treatments procedure nation wide. There will be no way for cots to build centers on his own nationally to deliver this wound hair growth treatment.

  23. ya even if i was suicidal i would still be on the edge of my seat with all the technology coming out. Age reversing genetic therapy, CRISPR, Shiseido, and all the others .. .. shit man virtual reality is coming out in the next year… VR video games and porn.. you’ll be too distracted to give a lol

  24. I do really think We have to focus on others treatments…setepiprant, tofacitinib … Finasteride even in the topical form wil stay just Finasteride. No miracle there !
    We are now in 2016, Man have walk on the moon, we have barely flight HIV and still nothing for hair regrowth… so disepointed !!

  25. Anyone here use rogaine? Have a question. Is it possible for rogaine to thin out the front right side if hair line but everything to stay as is. My right temple and pretty much right side of hair line has been thinning very quickly since using rogaine. I don’t even apply it there anymore. Just crown and half way up to the front of my scalp. These hairs were thick dark and healthy and now they curl up and shrivel away after one quick cycle. It’s like not the usual mpb pattern where it thins over time . It’s like it was forced to shed healthy and not grow back. Sucks cuz I’m starting to look weird with a 3 inch square area of my front right side of hair line thinning..any suggestions on what to do. Been on rogaine for 14 months. Grew hsir on top and some of crown.

    1. mjones I had a similar experience with Minoxidil… I had very slow thinning at first that I didn’t even realize it until my hairdresser pointed it out. After consulting with my doctor he recommended minoxidil. After taking it regularly for about 2 months my hair color started changing only in the places were I applied minoxidil (crown area). My hair became lighter in color until it turned to blonde just like it used to be when I was a kid. Afterwards I gradually pulled out of minoxidil and this is when a monster shed attacked my hair and I lost most of it in the crown area within 1-2 years. That’s why I would recommend you to never quite minoxidil as it may really hit back at you. The best solution in your case would be to apply it on the crown area only since it is particularly yielding good results in that area.

  26. To Mjones and and hallucinate, rogaine won’t do any arm to you but it does not work on the temples for most people … Unfortunately. Keep using rogaine 5% no matter what and the most important thing is finasteride, yes finasteride and don’t tell me about the sides please. Remember at the end your genetic will win.

    1. Khourii inta lebnene?? If you are then you would understand what I just wrote lol. In regards to fin, i am really hesitant to try it after all the stories i’ve heard. How long have you been taking it for? And did it really halt your hair loss? Were you experiencing a lot of shedding when you first started using it?

      1. Yes I did use it but was too (NW 5 when I started) late and no sheding at all and no sides. Do you know why I used it that late? Because I was scared too but now I regret not using it at the beginning. I used it for 4 years and stopped because did not see a good result. Go to a dermatologist so he can prescribe it for you if you are a good candidate.

    1. Well…. “After two months on tofacitinib at 10 mg daily, the patient’s psoriasis showed some improvement, and the man had grown scalp and facial hair — the first hair he’d grown there in seven years. After three more months of therapy at 15 mg daily, the patient had completely regrown scalp hair and also had clearly visible eyebrows, eyelashes, and facial hair, as well as armpit and other hair, the doctors said.

      By eight months there was full regrowth of hair,” said co-author Dr. Brittany G. Craiglow. “The patient has reported feeling no side effects, and we’ve seen no lab test abnormalities, either.”

      by the way… where is nasa_rs?? the guy has vanished…

      What do you think, hairlesssss??!! Did you see those pictures!!? Off course it is CURE!!… BUT, unfortunately… it’s just cured Alopecia Universalis and also Alopecia Areata (Dr. Angela Christiano)… For common baldness, we’ll have to wait…

  27. Khourii…I hope you don’t have a job related to health care. For the health of your patients … Sorry.

    DHT IS NOT THE MAIN CAUSE OF MPB.

    Take care.

  28. Im also strongly considering Fin but god…the sides..if only I was sure that they would go away when I quit the medication I would have no problem trying it out. I just cant stop thinking and being paranoid bout what a horror story my life could turn into with a limp or deformed cock, big man-titties, and hair loss to top it all off. The worst thing bout the sides are that some of them wont appear until your actually off Fin.

      1. My sides took 10 days to go away. It was the worst 10 days of my life. There is plenty of stuff out there with people claiming it takes months, sometimes years.

  29. If only it was as simple as that yes then I would try it but…when reading bout procepia its pretty clear that I cant be sure that the sides wont continue…im also nervous about loosing hair faster cuz of fin and then not getting it back to my current state.

  30. Nobody likes Propecia..is very normal…It’s a really bad drug…
    If there Propecia with no side effects that would be excellent…But no…

  31. I really want a cellular treatment over a rehash of hormonal treatment…but if this is the best we can hope for for a long while I’ll try and keep an open mind.

  32. I’m with khouri. Propecia saved my hsir from very aggressive hair losd for over 14 years. I still have the majority of my hair but my crown and temples started to thin 3 yrs ago. I hopped on rogaine and it thickened up crown but nothing fir temples. Actually I think it sped up thr loss in my right temple.

    Paul you may gate propecia but for many it saved their hair fir over a decade. I never got any sides. I do agree with you that we NEED BETTER TREATMENTS ASAP! It is way overdue and we should have had a better treatment bsck in 2010. And we should be on our third better treatment this year. Makes no sense how there are over 5 different impotent pills, tons of acne drugs but yet baldness prob being the biggest money maker is left last place . Stupid. The next treatment better be FKING awesome!

  33. I was thinking last night that the coolest thing to come out would be synthetic hair. It would be bad ass to just have hair that never fell out, always looked perfect, and the same color. Never have to cut it. Shoot, I wouldn’t even care if it was metallic looking, as long as I could have it put in any way I want.

    1. Hey man, that would be very weird… If fake hair satisfies you can just pick a wig, you can glue it to your head and that’s it, you won’t have to cut it as well… But I suppose you don’t really want that.

      1. No way man. I mean, wouldn’t it be awesome if they came out with something that actually looked cooler than hair? Something thick, but glowed brilliantly? I wouldn’t mind if it was in my scalp, and you never had to worry about it coming off.

  34. it’s not aging, nosyu. It really isn’t, man. It’s just a logical coincidence that it occurs while you age but there is both cases where a man gets bald at a very early age, there are men completely bald at 25 years, as well as there are 80 year old men that have all their hairs on their heads. So.. it’s not due to aging, obvious!! It’s just that, by old age, most men are already bald or have very thin hair (only because baldness affects most men!!) but factors are completely disconnected!

    and, nobody can understand japanese here, man… cmon

  35. Anyone here try azelaic acid with rogaine on hair line. Any chance it may work for recent loss around my temples. ? Anyone use it we it success?

  36. @Mjones, I think I made the decision to try Procepia. Im gonna call my doctor on monday and see what he says. I still got really thick hair on crown (no bald spots and you cant see my scalp even with bright light directly on my head) and only have significant loss on tempels. So, if Fin works for me its gonna save me from tons of speculation…

    1. Apparently it still goes systemic and still causes the same side effects as oral. There are reviews on reddit check them out with a google search

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