In September 2025, Acorn Biolabs will begin a 60 person clinical trial in the US to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the use of an autologous hair follicle derived secretome for treating androgenetic alopecia. The secretome will be injected into the scalp at baseline, and at days 30, 90, 180, 270 and 365. The primary trial completion date is September 2027. Quote of interest:
“Proteonomic analysis has demonstrated that this secretome contains anywhere from 2-22 times the bioactive components of platelet rich plasma (PRP) when compared within the same individual. We hypothesize that repeat injections of autologous hair follicle-derived secretome will safely and effectively stimulate hair regrowth in men and women suffering from androgenic alopecia.”
March 19, 2025
I first heard about Canada based Acorn Biolabs (established in 2017) and its hair follicle banking service in 2023. I did not write a blog post about the company right away because I had already written about HairClone (UK) and its now well established hair follicle banking service.
Like most readers, I am somewhat suspicious about these annual fee based hair follicle storage services that offer potential future benefits. And I feel like at least 10% of most people’s scalp hair will continue to remain very strong into old age, so early storage is perhaps a bit too much of a risk averse strategy?
However, a new development finally made me write this post today.
Acorn Biolabs Topical Secretome Hair Growth Treatment out in 2025
In late 2024, Acorn Biolabs launched an Early Access topical haircare treatment created from one’s own hair follicle stem cells. This hair loss product would only be available at select clinics in the US and Canada. The company plans to conduct a broader launch in early 2025 after analyzing the initial clinical data. They call this topical an autologous secretome product.
The hair follicle cell collection process takes 30 minutes during which a trained professional plucks 50 fully intact hair follicles from the back of your head. The cost of collection is around $1,000, with further fees for storage dependent on desired duration. The personalized topical stem cell based secretome product is created, formulated and applied at a clinic (and later at home by yourself) via the below process.
According to the company’s main hair loss secretome treatment page (which has a “Join Waitlist” option), secretomes are superior to exosomes when it comes to hair growth. Secretomes contain a broader range of regenerative factors and proteins, and even include a certain amount of exosomes. More details can be read here.
Per Acorn, their individualized secretome product contains up to 34 times more growth factors compared to traditional PRP.
Acorn at “Don’t Die Summit”: March 22nd 2025
Acorn Biolabs will have an active presence at this week’s Bryan Johnson led Don’t Die Summitin Miami on March 22nd 2025. They have their own page where you can register and reserve a spot for one of 50 available stem cell collection appointments. Quote:
“Secure your spot to be amongst the first to access Acorn’s first topical secretome treatment with up to 34x the growth factors of PRP.”
CEO Drew Taylor
The CEO of Acorn Biolabs, Dr. Drew Taylor, has a very interesting background. He played professional minor league baseball as a pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies. His personal sporting injuries gave him an early interest in regenerative medicine.
He got Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan. Followed by a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto.
Mr. Taylor’s father Ron played major-league baseball with two World Series championship teams, and later returned to school to become the team physician for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Getting a hair transplant in a foreign country such as Turkey, India or Thailand. Lower cost, but also riskier.
Getting a hair transplant abroad in countries such as India, Thailand, Turkey and the UAE is becoming increasingly popular.
The costs are usually a fraction of those seen in the US or Western Europe. However, the dangers are also significant, especially in the hands of inexperienced surgeons. Also make sure to read my past post on hair transplants gone wrong.
Deaths from Hair Transplant Procedures
Although very rare, a number of young people have died in recent years during or immediately after a hair transplant surgery. As hair restoration procedures become ever more popular worldwide, such tragedies will only increase.
Among the main reasons for major issues after a hair transplant procedure include: incorrect dosage anesthesia medication delivery; excessively lengthy procedures in order to get the most number of grafts moved; and uncleanliness related infections.
August 4, 2025
A 38-year-old British man died while getting a $2,000 hair transplant in Turkey. The clinic where there man had his procedure claims to have performed 70,000 hair transplant procedures to date.
May 26, 2025
Two hair transplant patients died at the same clinic in India within the span of months. Even worse, the doctor was originally a dentist, but now performing hair transplants without all the proper certifications. Just ridiculous.
October 29, 2024
The Daily Mail covers the tragic case of a 24-year old French student who committed suicide after a beard transplant (using his scalp hair as the donor source) in Turkey. The transplant was botched and was performed by a real estate agent posing as a surgeon. Apparently, there have also been some other cases of suicides after Turkish hair transplants (and cosmetic surgeries) gone wrong.
September 21, 2021
A 31-year old Indian man died three days after getting a hair transplant. It has not yet been proven what exactly caused his death, but he started feeling uneasiness less than two days after the procedure. He went back to the hospital where the hair transplant clinic is located in order to get treated. Sadly he did not recover, and passed away in the ICU on the next day.
September 15, 2021
A 28-year old Italian man went to Turkey for a hair transplant. He ended up dying from a heart attack under very suspicious circumstances. Doctors supposedly even performed an angiography and stent procedure before the hair restoration procedure.
In 2020, a 26-year old UK man who went to Turkey for his hair transplant came back with a pretty shocking story. There are many great hair transplant surgeons in Turkey, but even more numerous dangerous run-of-the-mill clinics. Getting a hair transplant abroad can be very cheap, but also a risky proposition.
March 12, 2019
An Indian man in his early 40s died after getting a 12-hour hair transplant procedure. He initially wanted an insane 9,000 grafts in one go. However, after receiving 3,700 grafts, the surgery was stopped at 2:30 am due to complications. Some unethical surgeons want to provide the best before and after results and photos for future customers. Therefore, they will often encourage unrealistically large procedures detrimental to patient health.
This week, there were several important stories pertaining to hair transplants in China. Something we rarely read about in the US or Europe.
First, Chinese social media was abuzz with horror at malpractice and terrible training in China’s unlicensed hair transplant industry. This story via its related hashtag on Weibo has been read an insane 260 million times as of today.
Apparently China’s hair transplant industry was worth around $1.5 billion in 2018 per the earlier linked article. Unlike Turkey, most hair transplants in China are performed on local citizens.
April 23, 2017
Hair Transplants Abroad
While this blog’s ultimate focus is on a cure for hair loss, virtually every month I write at least one post that is devoted to existing treatments. Hair transplants represent the most popular hair loss treatment option, and many people are visiting foreign countries for hair restoration work.
To date, I have written at least ten posts on hair restoration procedures. Hair transplants are currently the best treatment option for people who want to see an immediate improvement in their scalp’s appearance. In the hands of certified and highly experienced surgeons, hair transplants will usually result in favorable outcomes. However, even the best surgeons will have some failures and highly disappointed patients.
If you ever do decide to get a hair transplant, you will want to do a lot of research before proceeding. This includes checking out numerous patient testimonials on hair loss forums. Even better, examine and directly speak in person with patients located near you. Most experienced certified surgeons should have at least several of their patients located within a 100 mile radius of you. Especially if you reside in the US, Europe, India, Turkey or Thailand. It is imperative to see patients in person after their new hair has grown out.
Cheaper Hair Restoration Prices Abroad
In recent years, patients in developed countries where hair transplants can cost upwards of $15,000 have often decided to travel to poorer countries where the procedure can cost less than $5,000. The most popular countries for such lower-cost cosmetic hair transplant tourism procedures are probably India, Thailand and Turkey.
All three of the above mentioned countries are home to many extremely skilled and renowned hair transplant surgeons. This includes ones who regularly present at international hair transplant conferences and have authored hair transplant related textbook chapters.
However, the number of sketchy surgeons and clinics in these countries is also very large. Far more so than in developed countries. If you do not do sufficient research before going to a foreign country to get a hair transplant, you can get the shock of your life.
In the most extreme case, you can even die in a foreign land in the process of getting some hair moved from the back of your scalp to the front. And in case of any major injury, you might have an almost impossible task of taking a surgeon to court in a country that you might be visiting for the first time ever (and where your native language may not even be spoken).
Getting a Hair Transplant in Turkey
The reason I decided to write this post is because I recently read an article about Turkey’s booming hair transplant tourism industry. It is the first time that I have read something like this in a well known online publication in the US. Edit: There was another interesting story on this subject in Wired magazine in 2015.
While I was not surprised at reading about some of the sketchiness in Turkey’s underground hair transplant world, some of the descriptions and images are quite vivid. Apparently, hair restoration clinics in the country are “springing up like rabbits”. According to official data, 60,000 people from abroad came to Turkey last year for hair transplants. Around 90 percent of those came from the Middle East.
On many hair loss forums, you will read numerous testimonials from people in the western world who have gone to Turkey to get a hair transplant. Thankfully, most seem happy with the results, or at least not seriously injured. However, forum members tend to be much more educated about this subject matter and tend to only go to the most reputable hair restoration surgeons out there in Turkey.
The below new Bloomberg video on Turkey’s booming hair transplant industry features Spencer Stevenson (Spex). One surgeon in the video estimates that 2,000 hair transplant procedures occur daily in Turkey, generating the country $2 billion each year.
