During the past year, I have read a number of articles comparing the recent obesity GLP-1 drug boom versus a near future hair loss drug boom. After the highly successful February 2026 IPO of hair loss treatment company Veradermics (US), its CEO pointed out that his company benefited from the obesity drug boom:
“Weight loss showed the playbook and viability of a cash-pay, consumer-directed market and gave investors and gave us conviction that hair loss could be the next weight loss.”
Ironically, GLP-1 weight loss drugs often cause temporary telogen effluvium hair loss.
The two companies that currently dominate the global weight loss prescription drug market are:
- Novo Nordisk (Denmark). Maker of Ozempic and Wegovy (semaglutide). Earlier this month, the company rebranded itself to Novo.
- Eli Lilly (US). Maker of Mounjaro and Zepbound (tirzepatide). The company is often just called Lilly. It is one of only around 20 companies in the world with a market capitalization of over $1 trillion.
However, competition is increasing significantly with patent expirations and the approval of pills, longer-lasting injections and newer generation GLP-1 drugs. The latter cause fewer side effects, greater weight loss and/or lead to longer lasting results.
Novo Nordisk to Enter Hair Loss Sector
Yesterday, Novo Nordisk (called Novo as of this month) made a big announcement that it was considering entering the hair loss market. With increasing competition in the weight loss sector, the underdeveloped hair loss segment is ripe for pickings. Only two hair loss drugs have ever been approved by the US FDA: Minoxidil (Rogaine) in 1988 and Finasteride (Propecia) in 1997. A third one based on the ingredient Clascoterone might get approved in 2027.
The smart people of Reddit suggest buying Novo’s shares if the totally bald company CEO is ever seen with a head of hair.
Eli Lilly Increases Footprint in Hair Loss Sector
I have discussed Eli Lilly’s increasing activity in the hair loss sector a number of time in the past year.
- In August 2026, Eli Lilly led a group that invested $26 million in US-based Amplifica.
- In June 2026, Eli Lilly led a group that invested $100 million in US-based Absci.
- In February 2026, Eli Lilly purchased 4.9% stake in US-based Veradermics.
- Eli Lilly has been considering investing in the hair and skin regeneration segment of OliX Pharmaceuticals (South Korea). This is after they paid OliX $630 million in 2025 for rights to the company’s metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) drug candidate.
Also of significance, Lilly makes Olumiant (baricitinib), an oral JAK inhibitor pill that was approved by the FDA in 2022 to treat adults with severe alopecia areata (AA). The vast majority (around 95%) of hair loss is due androgenetic alopecia (AGA). This is also called male and female pattern hair loss. However, unlike AGA treatments minoxidil and finasteride, the new JAK inhibitor treatments for AA are often miraculous in re-growing hair in totally bald regions of the scalp.
For those who invest in the stock market, make sure to check out my post on hair loss company stocks.
haha hey woofy, yoda and admin. always a blast with you guys. the scalp massage i do takes me just 1 to 2 min max each day till the scalp is flexible then I just do it now 2x a week or so. I never used any massage gadgets. Hopefully it helps guys!
mjones and yoda its been a while :)
Woofy my boy, hope you’re well and keeping positive.
Hey Admin and Yoda. Hope you two are doing well. Thought I would jump in here and give my tips on controlling that unbearable scalp itch and inflammation. The things that worked for me was bi weekly acv rinse after shampooing. Limit high sugar intake like eating a bunch of cookies daily or junk food. The biggest thing that helped the most was scalp massage daily before showering. Make two fists on the sides of your head and massage upwards to the point where the top of your scalp moves and folds in a way. Start from the temple do it 10x there then move to the middle side of scalp then 10x upward movement there and repeat a every couple of inches till you hit the crown area. That part do the same and use fists to massage the crown up and around to make it squish and fold as well. Do this daily to break up the tightness in the scalp and crown. After a week or so the top of scalp will be flexible and moveable. My scalp pain was eliminated by doing this. I do it 3x a week now for the past 15 years. Whenever I get lazy and skip a month my scalp gets tight and feel it hurt again a bit. Gotta love this hairloss crap hahaha the three of us should open a hair loss clinic.
Great to heard from you Mjones!!
Years ago, I bought Tom Hagerty’s scalp exercise DVDs, but never really pursued it properly:
https://www.hairlosscure2020.com/dr-rei-ogawas-mechanotherapy-tom-hagertys-scalp-exercises-dermarolling/
MJones, gone but not forgotten! Thanks for the tip, I’m not a junk food guy, the massage takes some real commitment. I’m in a good place presently with itch, inflammation but will keep in mind. Don’t be a stranger Bro, we need the wisdom of elders on here!
New company developing yr 011 from Yirui in China https://yirui-pharma.com/#pipelines-and-partners-2
Yea I love you too.
I will second that Yoda. I don’t know how quickly any benefit will follow but this post highlights a welcomed shift where big money and legitmate players are finally moving into the market. I don’t know if it means that big pharma has figured out the scale at which people will spend out of their own pocket, even if the prospect of benefit is questionable, or if it means that big pharma sees some realistic next generation prospects , or both. Fingers crossed!
No comments yet, figure I’d leave one to thank the Admin for his commitment to the cause. Other forums and blogs have faded into near oblivion, HLC2020 keeps going strong to bring us the news!
Thanks!
I’m joining the appreciation post.
Thank you for helping us all through this journey. It means so much to have a place for sharing, connecting, and holding on to hope for all the exciting things technology and science might have in store for us.
I think that with this website, you’re doing so much more for us than you realize.
Thanks everyone!
Hair loss (and crazy scalp itching, and androgen-driven facial hair issues) all hinder my quality of life. So it has been worth keeping up with the news from a personal standpoint.
A number of readers also help out (via emails or comments) in keeping me informed.
Admin, regarding your “crazy scalp itching” this affected me as well, itching, inflammation, dandruff, scalp flaking. No shampoo seemed to help. I did get rid of the big flakes/peeling by eliminating propylene glycol from my topicals, the rest of the symptoms persisted. I started KLOW peptide injection therapy (Dr. supervised) to see if it would help with neck/back pain, has had a modest effect. However my scalp symptoms improved by 90%+ almost immediately.
I’d also added coal tar shampoo into my rotation, I’ve tried before without much improvement, now I apply an hour before showering as directed on the label. Current shampoo rotation is 2.5% selenium sulfide (Selsun Blue from Canada), Happy Head 2% zinc, 2% Ketoconazole, 2% coal tar with alternating SALICYLIC ACID 2.0% conditioner with CeraVe gentle hydration conditioner. I use a Topical GHK-Cu Peptide Hair Growth Serum in the early morning before I shower, because why not.
Some of this was started around the same time as KLOW however I’m convinced it’s the KLOW doing the heavy lifting. Should know soon as I’ll cycle off the KLOW for a couple months as directed however if my scalp stays healthy unsure if I’ll restart that treatment as it’s costly and didn’t bring the other pain relief I’d hoped for, so far.
Thanks Yoda, that is really great information. Especially about KLOW.
My scalp itching was rare for many months this year. But this month has been brutal, along with major hair loss.
Never liked coal tar shampoo the one time I tried, and the combination of Nizoral and Head & Shoulders was usually effective for me. Or at least gave me a day of relief each time after use. But this month nothing has worked.
Trust me admin, the itch and inflammation gets harder to control in time, maybe becomes more resistant. Funny thing is my first 20 years of hair loss I didn’t have it, last 10 years it’s been persistent, also sensitive slightly painful scalp. This definitely can affect our hair loss/regrowth as well. If I need to hop back on KLOW might go the grey market route, it’s about half the cost. Or might investigate low dose Naltrexone for inflammation. There’s also https://www.zoryve.com/ have heard good things.
I meant to comment admin, even though I haven’t checked in here as much since the Jeff Vincint saga started (as this seemed to be something real coming soon after so many years gone and still to go apparently before any mainstream treatments come out), this is a great piece and you do some solid journalism that I’m sure is appreciated by many. No need to post this reply but that’s for the work you put in.
Jeff Vincint’s account got blocked on X… Does anyone know where to track progress of the topical his company was working on? I thought it wasn’t a scam thus far.
Petroleum jelly is very good for itchy scalp and flaking skin.
Yes, thanks admin. This website gives me hope from time to time.
I’d like to jump on the admin bandwagon praise too. First and last place I look for news and the commenters here are generally super respectful and helpful.
Same here, thank you, Admin! I completely agree with all the comments above. I especially want to highlight the sense of comfort and hope you have provided, as well as the genuine science communication work you have carried out through this blog, in a landscape that had been essentially deserted for years.
Let’s really hope things can change soon. And even when they do, the contribution of all the work you have done here will not be forgotten.
A big shout-out to you, Admin!