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Hello Dr. Rassman,

I was fielding some of the questions about future hair loss treatments, and I’ve noticed all things considered, there are a few (supposedly) options in the pipeline.

My question is out of the prospective treatments (cloning, more effective medication, genetic treatment), which do you think is the most likely to materialize? Or put another way, given your experience, which do you think has the highest probability of reaching the consumer level?

Thanks

You are correct in stating that there really are only a few treatment options available. Medically there is Propecia and Rogaine. Surgically there is a hair transplant procedure. These treatments are not a complete solution in itself, but it does work with its own limitations.

For the future, your guess is probably as good as mine. We all know genetic cloning research is being carried out, yet there is no definite light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. In my opinion, for something revolutionary to reach the consumer level, I would say it could take another 10+ years (and I only say 10+ years because that’s a time frame that is pretty far for me to think about). Maybe we will see new drugs in less than 10 years. I certainly hope so.

For Dr. Farjo please: Are you still working with Intercytex on trials or have you lost confidence in the project? Based on what Dr. Rassman said (he doesn’t see a breakthrough in cloning/multiplication for at least 10 years) whereas intercytex predicted a product in 2010… Do you think it’s worth putting off a hair transplant for about 2 years if not urgent for something to come out of Intercytex? Or did they fail? I am confused about this because you had said the results were good at some stage… please let me know if something changed your mind.

The following response is by UK-based physician Dr. Bessam Farjo:

Response by: Dr Bessam Farjo United Kingdom

Back in 2007 and early 2008, Intercytex genuinely believed that good news was around the corner. This was based on the very promising results of the laboratory work. What happened was that the positive results of clinical trials were not as efficient as the lab ones. In other words although promising and exciting, not quite good enough to justify applying for a therapeutic product for the public. Since then three things have happened. Firstly the credit crunch hit the biotech sector hard in that major investors pulled out. Secondly, an unrelated Intercytex product did not come up with the goods, which meant negatively affecting the company share price. Thirdly, money aside, Intercytex agreed that the future probably lies in their ongoing lab research of making fully formed hairs from the cloned cells before taking them back to the donor. At this point, I dont know when this work will result in a clinical trial.

At the moment you could say I am in between contracts with Intercytex as there no trials taking place. I was never employed as such by Intercytex.

If your donor hair is good enough for now and the future then I would encourage you to go ahead with transplants if you are a suitable candidate. Hair cloning, when it becomes available, is more relevant where donor hair is a problem. Another point depending on your age, you are probably more concerned about your loss now than you will be in 10 years time. The top doctors in the field will be able to advise you of your suitability and potential future hair loss.

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Learn more about the author of this article, Dr. Bessam Farjo, on his BaldingBlog profile or at his website.

Hi,

i’d like to ask you if you know the name they are using for their future product from follica. for example Histogen, they are using Regenica and Interctex ICX-TRC, so what Follica is using as a name? and it is known in what stage of their study they are? for example Aderans are in phase 2 of the process.

thanks

Follica hasn’t been too forthcoming with information. I don’t believe anything has been announced as far as a name, though I’d assume there are some codenames at the very least that they use internally. According to their site, “Follica, Inc. is developing novel therapies for conditions and disorders of the hair follicle“.

To me, that indicates that they’re developing multiple products at once… and perhaps they won’t announce a name until one of the treatments progresses further than the rest. That’s pure speculation though!

Dear Dr,

From one of the last posts I saw about hair cloning it appears that there is a real possibility that it will never emmerge. You mentioned that the trials have been underwhelming and are not working how they were expected. Do you think that the compnaies invoved with developing hair cloning will wash their hands of it. Do you think we will ever see it working. Obviously, everyone is waiting for a genuine ‘cure’ for baldness and if it is not going to be hair cloning is there anything else on the horizon that might be it? Surely, we must be getting closer to that day and if so when do you think that day will be? Many thanks for your blog.

I think that hair cloning will be available at some point in the future, but certainly not in the immediate future. I feel like I’m the lone person willing to say that it is not ready for primetime yet (not even close), and I wonder why some people are just willing to believe every press release with a tiny nugget of information.

There are more promising options than just hair cloning alone such as stimulating the stem cells in the skin and epidermis, finding of compounds that are the missing link to hair growth (for example, some medication that might just grow back the follicular units that may be present throughout the bald head). While I think that any one solution is not at hand, the availability of multiple approaches just increases the odds that some solution will someday be at hand.

There are breakthroughs occurring at a rapid rate now on using stem cells to generate entire organs like the kidney, heart, and lungs. Hair is another such organ system that could benefit from such breakthroughs. I am optimistic that one of these breakthroughs will be evident in the next decade or so, but which one? Your guess is as good as mine.

Is hair cloning only limited to the top of the head or are they also working on cloning eyebrows? Hence they grow at the same length and density or are they soley working on head hair because it is of more concern to the majority of people?

When hair cloning is available, it will have a genetic clock that should dictate the hair cycle for each particular hair, hence its length. But saying much about something that is not here now and possibly won’t be available for 10+ years, would be foolish for me at this time. It would be like having a long discussion about flying cars and the speeds at which they travel.

hi dr Rassman,

i have a few questions i havent seen an answer to on here,

1. how long does it take to see results from propecia? is 6 months the normal time it takes or can it take longer?
2. when do u think cloning will be made available to the public? ( i know there is no way to tell)
3. i used to spray rogain 5% on my hairline, however around 2 weeks back i switched and started using a dropper which probably meant im putting on my minoxidil than when i was using a
   sprayer, the areas i have been applying it to have thinned out, could this be because im using more minox now with the dropper?
4. Does showering everyday cause or worsen hairloss? what temperature is best?

thanks

1. For Propecia results, I’d say 6-12 months. Benefits could be just halting the hair loss, not necessarily regrowth… so keep that in mind when you’re looking at results.
2. Getting hair cloning to be effective and reliable is the first step. Making it available to the public is quite another. Maybe it’ll be ready in another decade or so, but nobody knows. I’m not sure how you haven’t seen me answer a question about hair cloning before. I’ve probably written the same thing over a dozen times already.
3. Why did you switch from the Rogaine sprayer to the dropper? It could be that you’re not covering the same area. Using more minoxidil in the area shouldn’t cause hair loss, but using less might.
4. Showering daily won’t cause hair loss, though if you’ve already got weak hair on its way out, be gentle to your hair when shampooing. Actually, you should be gentle regardless. Use whatever temperature is comfortable.

Several years ago, Bosley Medical Director and Aderans Executive Vice President Ken Washenik, M.D. declared with supreme confidence that the Aderans hair- multiplication procedure would be available to the public by 2007. As we know, this has not happened.

Simply put, although I fully appreciate that medical science is far from exact, it seems plain to me that these statements were made with the understanding that the predicted timelines were utter fantasy. Thus, I have little choice but to conclude that the statements were made with an eye toward self-interest, to wit, raising the firm’s profile and ultimately soliciting additional investment capital.

My question is this: If a doctor or a medical practice deliberately or recklessly declares the imminence of a cure when it knows or should know that the statement is materially false, should that be considered a breach of medical ethics?

Come on now, I’m sure that he believed that the solution would be at hand in 5 years or so. If a weather man predicted a sunny day tomorrow, and tomorrow came with heavy rain, would you call that unethical behavior? There are limits as to the predictability of the future. In our capitalistic society, the entrepreneur believes that his inventions will work, will take less time than it really takes to develop a marketable product, and he often puts his hard earned savings into that business. Not all businesses succeed, not all ideas work and when they do not, it is the entrepreneur that usually pays the price for it. I am sure that Dr. Washenik was humbled by his failure to predict the timeline for cloning correctly. I personally commend him and Aderans for their persistence in working on the problem.

Hey Dr,

Great blog, keep it up. I’ve read about seemingly cures to hairloss - follica, haircloning etc.

Just to make things clear - Is follica’s approach also known as hair cloning, or is it completely different? I just want to distinguish between the two.

I ask because you say that haircloning will probably not available for another decade, or more. And am wondering if this applies to follica’s research.

The difference relates to the mechanism of action for Follica which is distinctly different from hair cloning. A Follica press release states, “By studying wound healing on a molecular level, Dr. George Cotsarelis and colleagues discovered that the skin has the ability to revert to a more primitive or ‘embryonic’ state as stem cells migrate to the affected area, thereby achieving a regenerative capacity not previously appreciated to occur in adults.” It is this capacity that the research for Follica is based on.

Simply put, cloning requires that replica cells are created from an original cell, while the approach from Follica is to simulate the repair process, gaining more control over it to produce hair. The same press release goes on to say, “The researchers were able to control the regenerative response, including the extent of new hair follicle formation, by manipulating genetic pathways during this ‘embryonic window’ when new follicles formed.”

Dear Dr. Rassman,

I am a 29 year old male. I became aware of thinning in my crown area in April of ‘09, and got on Propecia at the beginning of May. I volunteered for the Aderan’s phase II hair/cell replication study, but was told I had too much hair to be a subject. The Dr. at the clinic where I was interviewed said the cloning procedure would be available in about 5 years.You state that you see the cloning procedure as a decade off, so from the information you’ve gotten at this recent convention, is it reasonable to imagine that in my late thirties, around 2019 or so, that I can get hair restoration through a cloning procedure? And in the next few years, do you see a better drug, like an FDA approved version of Dutasteride coming to market?

Thank you for you time

The folks at Aderans predicted the cloning solution would be available in 5 years… and that was 5 years ago. So by that timeline, it should be here now… yet here we are, wondering where it is. I probed that question to those who are knowledgeable and found that no one really expects a cloning solution in 5 years. Perhaps ten years… and maybe more.

Dutasteride is already FDA approved to treat the prostate, but I’d like to think it’ll be available for treating hair loss at some point down the line, once any other studies are concluded and safety can be assured. It’s not up to me, and I’ve got my reservations about the medication already. There are no other new hair loss drugs like dutasteride that I know of coming in the next 5 year horizon. It takes years to clear it through the FDA so we will have plenty of notice when the process starts for a new medication.

I have been losing my hair since i was about 17 and a half and i have found it deeply depressing and i am sick of the smell of hairspray! I was just wanting some helpful advice …

I have been taking Propecia for about 4 months and i am yet to notice any results and i am beginning to consider but as i am only 18 i will probably be denied such treatment. I just want something to tide me over until hair cloning is made public. Do you have any idea when this may be?

Any Advice you have i would be very grateful to receive.

Yours sincerely

I just got back from the annual ISHRS hair doctor convention (this year was in Amersterdam), and that very same question about cloning was asked to the experts who where on a panel that I chaired. The answer is that there is no cloning in the near future. I’ll write more about the ISHRS meeting in a future post this week.

My honest opinion is that cloning is still a decade away from being available to the public. They’re making progress, but even the clinical trials seem not to be working as hoped. If you follow message boards, some believers will tell you to give it another year or two… but that’s a moving timeline. I’ve been reading it’ll be available in “5-10 years” for at least the past decade. If you believe that someone has the answer, please let me know as it might just be good marketing hype.

You won’t see results in just 4 months of Propecia use, but stick with it. The most common question I get from 18 year olds on Propecia is about hair loss in the hairline. I don’t know what your hair loss is like, but keep in mind that full regrowth isn’t a benefit of the medication that you should be expecting. Just stopping the hair loss where it’s at is benefit enough. The peak benefits of Propecia takes 2 years and the gain in the second year slowly appears.