L’Oreal Shares Hair Cloning Poster

Today, I’m happy to be sharing a “never seen online before” poster of a L’Oreal research project involving the creation of hair follicle organoids in a dish. This type of work is commonly referred to as “hair cloning” – the ability to create brand new hair follicles outside the body using various types of follicle cells and stem cells. 

For the past several years it’s been known that L’Oreal has embarked on a research collaboration with the biopriting specialist company Poietis for the purpose of 3D-printing hair follicles.. Now, for the first time we are seeing the work that L’Oreal has been putting in on their end to develop a “hair follicle cultivation” model. And for those wondering, yes, the work below involves all human cells.

Click To Enlarge Then Zoom

The text on the poster is difficult to read unless you’ve enlarged the image by clicking on it. I’ll share the introduction of the poster here:

“Mammalian hair follicle morphogenesis results of highly complex and coordinated interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal cells, which, when injected into mouse skin, conduct to hair follicle neo-genesis.
Recently, several hair follicle organoids were reported:
– in vitro 3D hair follicle germ structures from mouse embryonic cells were obtained and resulted in de novo hair follicles growth when injected (1).
– Preliminary results showed that in vitro combinations of human outer root sheath keratinocytes and dermal papilla fibroblasts led to long rod organoid structures (2,3).
– More surprisingly, hair shaft growths were produced in vitro from pluripotent stem cells derived from mouse embryonic cells (2).
The challenge to produce such organoids from human adult hair follicle progenitor cells remains to be take up in the goal to pave the way of regenerative medicine. We developed new methods to amplify human hair follicle matrix cells and to produce neo dermal papilla spheroids. An original combination of both drives to the growth of hair organoids with K85 positive cells.”

I believe the publishing of this poster may change the way people view “the race” to a hair cloning therapy over the next decade. It’s nice to have one of the largest companies in the world involved. We can be mostly sure there is still some work to be done in perfecting L’Oreal’s hair follicle culturing process, however, when it is ready, the idea of producing follicles with Poietis’ bioprinting is highly appealing. Without revealing any specific details at this time, L’Oreal’s Head of Advanced Research told me that the L’Oreal team will continue to put best efforts towards this project and hope to publish their work when ready.

This poster has been previously shared at an American Hair Research Summit, European Hair Research Society Meeting, and the WCHR 2019 meeting. Special thanks to Mickael Le Balch for sharing this work with the readers of Follicle Thought.

157 Comments

  1. Vince on March 25, 2020 at 12:11 pm

    Have to thank you for keep sharing these news! Read everything but don’t always comment, please keep it up.



    • Follicle Thought on March 25, 2020 at 12:23 pm

      I thank you for the readership and for chiming in Vince, nice to have you here.



  2. Follicle Thought on March 25, 2020 at 12:22 pm

    I hope everyone enjoys this positive news from L’Oreal and is enjoying a relaxing time at home during this situation. It is nice to slow down sometimes. I’m glad to have some content for you all.



  3. Chris on March 25, 2020 at 12:40 pm

    Lot of big words here – any sense of what “place” this puts them in the race? i.e. how this compares to Tsuji etc.?



    • Follicle Thought on March 25, 2020 at 12:53 pm

      It seems to be a slightly different method than Tsuji which uses mesenchymal stem cells and epithelial cells.

      At this time it’s not really clear who is ahead in the race, I wouldn’t want to speculate. They all seem to be fairly neck-and-neck and we’ll only know when one of them drops a science journal article or press release bomb on the world. I can say this though, the work shown here is over a year old so it’s likely L’Oreal has progressed. Another point worth mentioning is scalability. In order for any of these treatments to become a reality they must be able to be produced on large scales, quickly. The integration of Poietis’ 3D bioprinting of hair follicles could give L’Oreal a manufacturing advantage when it comes time. Most importantly, I just think L’Oreal should just always be part of the conversation when people talk about cloning, I haven’t seen them mentioned much online when it comes to that topic. More players, more hope.



  4. Mat on March 25, 2020 at 3:19 pm

    Hi everyone,
    when will this method be reality, if all goes well in preclinical and clinical studies? Thanks



    • Follicle Thought on March 25, 2020 at 4:07 pm

      Hi Mat, it all depends when a company get into clinical trials and the results obtained from their phase 1 study. Things need to go well in the phase 1 for smooth progress in the trial phases. This treatment could enter phase 1 possibly in 2022 or 23.



      • D1 on March 26, 2020 at 5:28 am

        @Follicle Thought why cant they do this in japan? also do you know what they have been doing for the last year?



        • Follicle Thought on March 26, 2020 at 11:00 am

          D1, they can do this in Japan and when they have a final protocol that works well they very well may start a trial in Japan. I don’t know exactly what they have been doing for the last year but we can be sure they have been working to further develop their hair follicle culturing method.



  5. Stephan on March 25, 2020 at 4:50 pm

    Well… If i remember right, first results of hair cloning were reported in 2013. I understand there are specific diffrences in the procedures, but real news refering to this topic can be only a human trial announcement like organ thechnologies made a couple of jears ago. As Org.tech is says there yreatment should be available sometime in 2021-2022, the Loreal team is pretty late… We’ ll see



    • Follicle Thought on March 25, 2020 at 6:09 pm

      Organ Technologies has only ever projected a potential timeline for human trials dependent upon interim preclinical testing, we don’t get to hear about the preclinical testing that has been going on since they made that announcement. As it stands, Organ Technologies is not in any human trials. Their treatment becoming available before 2023 would be close to a miracle.



      • Tom on March 25, 2020 at 7:25 pm

        You should read a bit more into this admin



        • Follicle Thought on March 25, 2020 at 7:33 pm

          What do you mean Tom?



    • Yoda on March 26, 2020 at 6:12 pm

      Right, late to the game because Organ Tech is a 100% slam dunk certainty to be a readily available, affordable commercial treatment in the next year or two. Really?? 😉



      • Cesar on March 26, 2020 at 10:35 pm

        well put Yoda….



  6. Gil on March 25, 2020 at 8:07 pm

    I appreciate the news glad to hear Loreal getting involved. I’m sure theyd like to be first and for all we know this could come before Tsuji. I hope things get close and companies are really racing towards the finish line.



  7. Hans on March 26, 2020 at 3:58 am

    What do you think is the impact of Corona on japanese hairloss research.

    Do you think that J Hewitt and Tsuji will be at least one year delayed and arent able to work now?



    • Follicle Thought on March 26, 2020 at 11:01 am

      It seems to have delayed things at least 3-4 months. How much further than that remains unclear.



  8. Richard on March 26, 2020 at 5:49 am

    @admin: Did Lóreal told ya that they plan to use this technique for commercial launch anytime to use it on patients? or is this just research?



    • Follicle Thought on March 26, 2020 at 10:58 am

      Richard, the goal for them is to be able to use the hair follicles in transplantation on human scalps. They can also use the follicles for testing the hair growth effect of compounds in the mean time.



  9. Nils on March 26, 2020 at 9:03 am

    Hey,
    nice information.

    But they´re working since 2016.
    Can you contact them and ask how its going ?

    https://poietis.com/c_2016_09_27_loreal/



    • Follicle Thought on March 26, 2020 at 10:56 am

      Nils, the research seems to be going alright and of course since L’Oreal is a major company on the stock market they cannot give specific details about their progress, the information at the bottom of the article is the best we have for now. Both companies are still working together on the project and it sounds like they have some research to publish in a scientific journal article later this year.



    • D1 on March 26, 2020 at 12:55 pm

      yeah would be good if you could find how far this is along



  10. Siegfried on March 26, 2020 at 1:44 pm

    @ADMIN will they do their clinical trials in Japan? It would last so long if they do it in Europe i think



    • Follicle Thought on March 26, 2020 at 3:00 pm

      I don’t know if they will do their trials in Japan, though I am sure they are aware of the advantage there. Once they get a working process they may decide to run a trial in Japan, we will have to wait and see.



  11. Follicle Thought on March 26, 2020 at 3:02 pm

    This is how Poietis’ 3D printing method works for those who haven’t seen it yet. The main idea of L’Oreal’s collaboration is to establish a protocol for creating human hair follicles in a petri dish and then translate the protocol into the 3D printing method for rapid development.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG5hz_60V3w



  12. Bryan on March 26, 2020 at 8:27 pm

    They still use mice stem cells mixed with human stem cells. Wake me up when they will grown up hair follicle created from fully human stem cells. This treatment is at least 10 years away from clinical use.



    • Follicle Thought on March 26, 2020 at 9:18 pm

      Hi Bryan, I tried to make it as clear as possible that this study involved only human cells, no mice cells….

      Said it clearly in the first paragraph



      • Yoda on March 27, 2020 at 6:15 pm

        Nevertheless, Bryan’s timeline (if this pans out) is probably realistic unfortunately.



        • Follicle Thought on March 27, 2020 at 7:13 pm

          Definitely could take 10 years, but that wouldn’t be the worst outcome in the world for me. News and articles on this subject are bound to come many years before the treatments become a clinical reality, that’s how it has to go. I still think this type of news is some of the most exciting in the game, if we didn’t get news like this then cloning would be more like 20 years away instead of 10.

          And, if it does pan out, and they try in Japan, could potentially come within a decade. But, we’ll see of course. Seeing them make progress and share updates along the way will help get us there.



          • Yoda on March 27, 2020 at 8:02 pm

            Agree with all you say Admin. Let’s just hope we get some decent new treatments along the way to these farther out unicorns. I’m sure we will, just a question of when and how effective.



            • Follicle Thought on March 27, 2020 at 10:40 pm

              I agree with that hope Yoda. HSC would be a perfect fill-in I think. Just hope they can get something going.



  13. Wolfgang on March 27, 2020 at 5:14 am

    @ADMIN Hey, did you hear something about Jon Knight? How is he going?



    • Follicle Thought on March 27, 2020 at 9:15 am

      I’ve not heard back from him lately, don’t know what to make of it.



    • Yoda on March 28, 2020 at 5:18 pm

      I’m thinking more along the lines of Follica, Samumed. HSC would be great but seems to be further out if it ever appears.



  14. Twenty/Years/Old/And/balding on March 27, 2020 at 12:51 pm

    YAY! we finally have an update from Loreal. I vividly remember back in early 2017 reading about their work on FT on the bus to school. Its great to hear that they are still focused on hair cloning and have made tremendous progress.

    Thank you admin for keeping us up to date, many of us would be so lost without your blog.



    • Follicle Thought on March 27, 2020 at 1:14 pm

      Thank you Twenty for the very kind words! Just curious, are you in college these days?



  15. Max on March 27, 2020 at 2:39 pm

    When do you think will Tissuse/J Hewitt be avaible ?



  16. Twenty/Years/Old/And/balding on March 27, 2020 at 2:41 pm

    Yes i’m a 2nd year Computer science student at Kings College London. I hope to be making good money in the tech sector by the mid 2020’s, just in time for when the hair cloning treatments (HC/Tsuji/Loreal) might become commercially available, so i can afford the inevitably expensive price tag lol.



  17. Bryan on March 27, 2020 at 3:04 pm

    @Follicle Thought You are wrong. They used mouse embryonic stem cells.

    – in vitro 3D hair follicle germ structures from mouse embryonic cells were obtained and resulted in de novo hair follicles growth when injected (1).

    – More surprisingly, hair shaft growths were produced in vitro from pluripotent stem cells derived from mouse embryonic cells (2).



    • Stephan on March 27, 2020 at 4:48 pm

      But in the conclusion they say human adult matrix cells. Isnt in the introduction ment the previous results from 2017?



    • Follicle Thought on March 27, 2020 at 7:10 pm

      I wonder how many times I’m going to have to explain this? At the very least I can say I admire your confidence Bryan.

      OK, one more time. The two sentences you quoted came after this sentence “Recently, several hair follicle organoids were reported:” Therefore, both of those sentences are referring to other projects from other groups which were completed before L’Oreal did this study. This is why they have little numbers at the end of the sentences, you can find those numbers in the References section. The numbers correlate to the studies that L’Oreal referenced.

      I’m not saying I’m perfect, but I do my best to understand the content I share before publishing. Once again, ALL human cells in this study, no mice involved.

      Enjoy.



      • Yoda on March 27, 2020 at 7:59 pm

        Wow…that’s the closest I’ve ever seen for the Admin to loose his cool. Excellent, you are mortal! 😉 However you still remain the more patient than Yoda could ever hope to be! You’re the best Joseph, please keep up the good work!



        • Follicle Thought on March 27, 2020 at 10:39 pm

          Hahahaha, thank you brother man Yoda. I always appreciate when you chime in with supportive and/or funny comments.



        • FloK on March 28, 2020 at 6:52 am

          YODA i think it is Time to get married with the admin. THese kind of Chat relationship should be followed by Love



          • Follicle Thought on March 28, 2020 at 10:46 am

            I prefer donations FloK…..https://www.patreon.com/FollicleThought



          • Yoda on March 28, 2020 at 5:15 pm

            You seem kinda jealous FloK but ok, Admin, will you marry me? Although with social distancing it might preclude a honeymoon. Not to mention my girlfriend would kill me if I married someone else, or at least I think so, possibly she’d be relieved.



            • Follicle Thought on March 28, 2020 at 9:25 pm

              lol



  18. D1 on March 28, 2020 at 5:40 am

    its a real shame that Guiliani is near Milan.



    • Follicle Thought on March 29, 2020 at 2:24 pm

      That’s true D1, most likely holding up their WAY analog research currently.



  19. Dante on March 30, 2020 at 11:17 am

    I wonder if they can surpass the Tsuji team in terms of timeline with this research?



    • Follicle Thought on March 30, 2020 at 5:13 pm

      Depends on how far they’ve progressed since this poster and also how Tsuji is doing in his latest preclinical work. As a guess I give a slight edge to Organ Technologies but anything is possible in the long run.



  20. C on March 30, 2020 at 8:54 pm

    Let’s not get our hopes up with this news from L’Oréal. After all, it could end in a similar fate as RCH-01…utter failure! I just hope I am as wrong as two left shoes on my feet!

    Frankly, whoever wins in this race to cure AGA, I don’t want to wait until 2030. If the cure is free of side effects, it should be reasonably priced.



    • Follicle Thought on March 30, 2020 at 11:14 pm

      When talking about hope for a new treatment, it’s probably best to speak for yourself C. People can get their hopes up or not if they choose. We all know this is multiple years out anyways.

      By the way, is there any treatment that you are hopeful for C? Just curious…I seem to see you post that sentence at almost every break of news.



      • C on March 31, 2020 at 8:00 pm

        My hope is J. Hewitt-Tissuse succeeds in its trials and apprises the AGA-afflicted community of the results in a perspicuous manner by the end of 2020 or early 2021!



        • Follicle Thought on March 31, 2020 at 9:46 pm

          That would be an apotheosis of a result for sure, C.



        • Herbert on April 1, 2020 at 4:49 am

          The problem is that J Hewitt doesnt find a cell processing center since 6 months. In times of corona it will be more difficult for J Hewitt to find a partner. Maybe they arent searching anymore because their business is also affected to due corona hughly



  21. Hairguy on March 30, 2020 at 10:16 pm

    You are going to be waiting longer than 2030 to get a cure lol. It’s been since 1997 since propecia been released and all other cell based cures have failed, replicel, aderans, intercytex, curis. Tbh there were cell treatments in the pipeline in the 2000s than now. I shouldn’t say replicel failed but severely underperformed. We got tsuji, l’oreal, invitro hair but isee those just in research level and will several years to reach market if successful. We do have follica that looks promising for a new treatment.



    • Follicle Thought on March 30, 2020 at 11:13 pm

      It could take longer than 10 years for hair cloning to become available this is true, we don’t know how it will pan out. Technology and understanding of biology and hair biology does progress every year, so that’s a plus. Follica is a nice treatment on the horizon and they have compounds in the future pipeline, but, their first generation therapy is basically minoxidil + dermaroller. I like to remember that big breakthroughs are always possible even after multiple failed attempts, just ask the Wright Brothers in 1903.



      • Soul on April 1, 2020 at 10:12 am

        Hi admin! TISSUSE do you consider it as a cloning? thanks



        • Follicle Thought on April 1, 2020 at 11:30 am

          Soul, thanks for the question. I was actually considering TissUse’s SHT treatment the other day. When I think of the “neopapillae” it seems as though they are somewhere between a an inductive dermal papilla cell and a primitive hair follile (like Organ Tech’s primordium). So, this is why TissUse has theorized that the neopapillae are capable of growing new hair follicles as well as integrating into existing follicles to restore them to full size. This would have to be tested in humans to find out. But, if the neopapillae are capable of doing a little of both – growing new hairs + renewing existing ones – I would consider it cloning because of the amount of increase it could provide. It’s fun to think about even adding an FUE to it, almost any case could be restored. But, of course it depends on whether the treatment actually works.



  22. Realist384 on March 30, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    People don’t realise that Replicel / SHISEIDO haven’t failed. Ok for people who are already bald 8% regrowth aren’t that much.
    But the target of SHISEIDO are the next balding generations which will go every year in the clinic since they notice any signe of balding let’s say with 20years. They will have a sideless treatment withought danaging your hormones or rubbing a lotion twice a day on your head.

    We could be the last generation with bald heads if SHISEIDO brings RCH-01 to the market. It is much better for balding people doing this injections every year then waiting 10 years until they are bald to do Tsuji or TissUse. This would be wasted lifetime

    Get this point finally!!!



    • Yoda on March 31, 2020 at 4:11 pm

      Plus…the point that Replicel / SHISEIDO are still in clinical trials and optimizing the treatment. 8% today COULD be more in the future, if/when they commercially release the treatment…after clinical trials are concluded. This will never satisfy the “I expect it now and I expect it to meet/exceed my expectations” crowd. They will always find a pile of crap under a potential pony!



      • Follicle Thought on March 31, 2020 at 9:44 pm

        Good point to the both of you, the 8% increase in density could turn into a 15%+ increase in density if injections were made every few months.

        I’d like to see 4 sets of injections done over the course of 8 months, now we’re talking about seeing what it can do.



      • dwain phillis on April 2, 2020 at 7:29 pm

        hi admin and yoda,

        have you both heard of a pill called hairypill ? it has minoxidil and Finasteride as well as herbs
        it made Chanel 7 news as a new hair treatment ,saw the add yesterday flouting on Facebook,company based in Melbourne ,Yoda i remember reading past comments from you you was taking Finasteride and minoxidil



        • Follicle Thought on April 2, 2020 at 8:22 pm

          Hi Dwain, I’ve heard of the hair pill from Dr. Sinclair in Australia. I don’t remember every detail but it looks like a decent treatment. I believe it combines oral minoxidil and finasteride, we know those drugs do create hair growth. Seems like a viable treatment.



          • dwain phillis on April 3, 2020 at 7:37 am

            Ithanks admin ,’ve ordered it .little nervousscared of side effects ,anyone know ?



  23. emizar on March 31, 2020 at 10:46 pm

    hi admin congratulations for the forum and thanks for the updates you give us !! I would like to understand one thing, but here are people all scientists ?? because I see that many pull random numbers !! 2030 2040 2050
    tsuji miss them the last phase and here we are … and I read of far-fetched dates !! 10 20 years to put cloning on the market ?? but please



    • Soul on April 1, 2020 at 10:19 am

      nobody knows when tsuji, Tissuse, etc… many come here and comment according to their current emotional state and already… my advice is to read every news that the admin provides us and that each one draw their conclusions but do not expose their emotions without any reasoning. is my advice.



      • Emizar on April 1, 2020 at 10:39 am

        right … how do you not know it! that I read various comments where people shoot random dates 2030 2040 etc etc … in fact it’s up to you to get informed and then comment



  24. Greg on April 1, 2020 at 3:58 am

    Admin, do you know if tsuji is still working in the lab? From what I read on RIKEN’s COVID-19 page, it seems like they’re still up and running, just taking extra precautions. Although they did say that all research from third parties had been postponed – does that include Tsuji? I know he’s with organ tech. but isn’t he also with RIKEN? Thanks.



    • Follicle Thought on April 1, 2020 at 11:04 am

      Greg, thank you for the question but I honestly don’t have a clear answer on that. I think only employees at Riken could say for sure. I would imagine that if the lab is still open like it says on their page, then Tsuji is still working in his lab. In times like this it is also possible that they are not going full steam ahead on the hair work, even in working on it.



  25. Layla on April 1, 2020 at 1:02 pm

    Thank you for all your updates. I was wondering if you have time to write an article specifically on female hair loss (AGA) and current or upcoming treatments for women. I feel like the discussion is focused alot on male AGA (which I can understand), but it would be really helpful to have an article on female pattern hair loss as the mechanisms that cause it can vary from men (for example when you look at the role of inflammation)



    • Follicle Thought on April 1, 2020 at 10:26 pm

      Hi Layla, the upcoming treatments for female AGA are virtually identical to male AGA. All of the upcoming treatments in the pipeline that I can think of are potential therapies for female AGA. Current treatments are also mostly the same with minoxidil at the top of the list, the only treatment not recommended is oral finasteride because of its interaction with sex hormones, even still I have heard of doctors prescribing it to females from time to time. Like men, treatment options are limited and consist of minoxidil, dermarolling, topical spironolactone (not too significant), some doctors may offer topical finasteride laser caps, PRP injections, and hair transplants.



  26. EMIZAR on April 1, 2020 at 11:07 pm

    HELLO ADMIN BUT TISSUSE COLLABORATES WITH RIGHT HEWITT ??? FROM THE LAST UPDATES SEBRA IS LOOKING FOR FUNDS TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THE SEARCH …. BUT AND CONVINCED THAT IT CAN WORK ON MAN ?? OR ARE THEORIES ONLY ??? THE SAME THING IS WORTH FOR TSUJI ??? THANKS



    • Follicle Thought on April 2, 2020 at 12:07 pm

      Hi Emizar, I’m sorry I can’t understand your words. What is Sebra?



      • EMIzar on April 2, 2020 at 7:11 pm

        I know admin use google translate !!!



  27. EMIzar on April 2, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    and google translate … i don’t understand english



    • Follicle Thought on April 2, 2020 at 8:18 pm

      So Emizar, J Hewitt is looking to find out if Tissuse will work in humans. It’s not identical to Tsuji but if it does work it will be a very valuable treatment.



    • Follicle Thought on April 3, 2020 at 10:00 am

      Hi Benny, this is actually the Shiseido RCH-01 results, there is an article about these results on the main Articles page, you might have read it before.



  28. peter on April 3, 2020 at 10:56 pm

    10 years.
    It’s always 10 years.



    • TORE40 on April 4, 2020 at 12:07 am

      PETER …!! If you say so !!! ANOTHER SCIENTIST HAS ARRIVED !.



      • Follicle Thought on April 4, 2020 at 11:54 am

        Right, no one knows for sure what’s coming down the line and Japan always provides hope for quick timelines. Also, I think L’Oreal’s development progress is within 2 years of Tsuji, so it’s not like they are very “far behind.”



  29. Benny on April 4, 2020 at 3:11 am

    Thanks for the answer admin. Are there any news from HairClone?



    • Follicle Thought on April 4, 2020 at 11:57 am

      Hi Benny, I will check in next week for an update, thanks for asking.



  30. james johnson on April 4, 2020 at 1:53 pm

    Still awaiting my gray hair cure from Loreal. I think that was predicted to arrive in 2015. This story excites me little to none, but thank you anyway Admin.



    • Follicle Thought on April 4, 2020 at 2:50 pm

      Thanks for the gratitude james. I know a few folks do find this news appealing which is what we aim for, and hope that some of the upcoming news is better for you.



    • Em on April 4, 2020 at 2:52 pm

      Hi, I’m a newcomer here! I’m a 20 year old female with AGA. I’m honestly not ready to accept AGA, I hopped onto this page for some hope. I’d hate to start Minoxidil only to have to stop it once I decide to get pregnant, since it’s only a bandaid on the issue. I was considering PRP and Laser therapy in the meantime. Since I am only 20, I’d hope that there’s a cure or extremely effective treatment sometime before I reach my 40’s. Do you think I’m giving myself false hope hoping for a cure in the next 20 years? I didn’t realize that there was so many research going on, I’m definitely going to get myself caught up on all these studies so I can chime in! I’m a nursing student so I hope I can catch on quickly.



      • Follicle Thought on April 4, 2020 at 10:27 pm

        Hi Em, welcome to the site, it’s great to have you with us. I really don’t think you’re giving yourself a false sense of hope to have a cure before you turn 40. It’s likely you’ll have some worthwhile new options before you even turn 30. Hair loss is not easy at any age but I know a lot of people wish they had the current pipeline to look forward to at age 20. Feel free to ask other members any questions you might have and I wish you all the best.



        • Yoda on April 5, 2020 at 7:42 pm

          Yoda the broken record chiming in…don’t make assumptions about current treatments (e.g. minoxidil), see a dermatologist that specializes in hairloss. Most don’t know jack so make sure to do your research. I’ve heard about finasteride/proscar/propecia in regards to pregnancy but never minoxidil. For women there’s also spironolactone, oral or topical. See a professional as opposed to making assumptions from things you “learn” on the internet.



          • Em on April 6, 2020 at 1:22 am

            I’m not making any assumption. I’ve been to 3 dermatologists and 1 dermatologist with hair loss as speciality. I’ve done countless research on all the treatments, oral AND topical minoxidil is contraindicated during pregnancy. All drug based treatment are contraindicated during pregnancy and breastfeeding. I’ve never heard of topical spiro but I’m very against the side effects for oral spiro. I feel pretty confident in the research I’ve made in the last 2 years on the different treatments and the only options I’m actually considering that are not “natural” would be the laser therapy and PRP injections. But I’m really hoping for new treatment options in the coming years. Thanks for the reply Yoda.



  31. Devit on April 4, 2020 at 11:49 pm

    Hi Admin, I don’t see any new treatment is going to come in India. I tried to search Exosome but no one offers this here. Still running on old medicines. I doubt even when new solutions will come to market it will take more years to reach here. Do you think most of will be available in US, Uk, and in Japan only?



    • Follicle Thought on April 5, 2020 at 10:37 pm

      Hi Devit, depending on India’s regulations I think the status-quo treatments will always make it there. I don’t know off hand how exosomes are regulated in India but I don’t think it’s so crucial that exosomes be available to everyone at the moment. Regulated drugs will make their way to India, right now most of the world is still running on the time tested medicines as well.



    • Yoda on April 8, 2020 at 5:26 pm

      Em, I had 4 rounds of PRP/CRP from the “God Father” of PRP for hairloss. Did little to nothing except lighten my wallet. Laser seems to have great marketing however it really doesn’t have much real world success that I’ve heard of/seen. Probably can help your hair grow quicker. I actually have the original Hairmax laser comb that I still use as it’s a sunk cost. I’m kind of wishing it would break so I could justify throwing it our. I didn’t know about topical minoxidil being contraindicated for pregnancy, not a concern for me, I’ll look into this to verify, even old Yoda can learn something. Seems like you have your mind made up about the medically proven treatments, if you have the $$$ to burn go for the ones you feel comfortable with. Women may respond better, especially if you’re in the early stages of hair loss. At least you’ll feel good for a while about being pro-active, I did when I tried something that seemed legit but ultimately didn’t work for me. I’m not the type of person to look back though, just keep moving ahead. Good luck!



      • Em on April 9, 2020 at 9:11 pm

        Yeah, I’m definitely worried that I’ll get PRP done and not have it be very effective. But if I want to go ahead and go for it, the sooner the better. The laser is also very expensive and I would hate for that to not work very well either. However, you are completely correct, the more proactive I am, the better I’ll feel that I’m doing something about it. My last resort will be the minoxidil, atleast I know it’s there if I really end up needing it.



        • Yoda on April 10, 2020 at 5:26 pm

          Em, if you’re going to do PRP there is a difference in the centrifuges and processing. I’ve been to a couple docs (for non hair related issues) that used very cheap units and from what I hear it does make a difference. I know, Yoda is confusing because I doubt the effectiveness but am telling you to go to a doc that has a quality unit. You seem proactive, just do some research on it. My personal feeling is that the docs that do this hype results, that is they take the very littlest of positive evidence and spin it to make it sound like it’s more than it is. Same with exosomes, my guess is that it will be more effective than PRP… in separating you from your money. Much more expensive with little results to show for it, that is possibly unless your hairloss is related to inflammation instead of hormones. I did read about minox and pregnancy, it seems inconclusive as to the contraindication however the bottom line seems to be that it shouldn’t be used during pregnancy to be safe. If you do try and stop you’ll lose your results and regain after you restart, probably better than not using at all.



  32. Greg on April 5, 2020 at 4:39 am

    Does anyone here know if finasteride reduces sperm count, and if so, can you gain it back after you get off of it? Does it alter your sperm forever or so the side effects go away?

    Thanks



    • Yoda on April 5, 2020 at 7:46 pm

      When I first started finasteride before most of you were born it gave me “watery” sperm for a few years, maybe reduced volume. Eventually went back to close to normal. Now I’m just old so I’m glad to have any spunk left, soon I’ll be expecting only dust to shoot out! 🙂



  33. glammetal on April 5, 2020 at 4:50 am

    Hello Admin!!
    Are there any news about follica. ??
    Do you plan on writing updates about them??
    Thanks in advance!



    • Follicle Thought on April 5, 2020 at 10:38 pm

      glammetal, No big news about Follica at the moment, the next order of business for them is to initiate their final trial for FDA approval. This could happen by the end of the year and even though things have been delayed a bit, perhaps when society gets back to a more normal flow the companies will be eager to launch trials and move forward etc.



  34. Ry on April 5, 2020 at 11:28 am

    Yeah I think Follica is our best bet at this point.

    Would love an update on them.



    • Follicle Thought on April 5, 2020 at 10:39 pm

      Ry, phase 3/pivotal trial for Follica hopefully coming this year. I don’t see why they couldn’t get it started by July or so depending on how the next 2 months go for this health concern.



  35. Bryan on April 5, 2020 at 3:33 pm

    Poietis is very advanced company. They already started to create 4D printing technology in their labs. I believe this company will bring something on the table in next 10 years, but it will be very late for many guys here.



  36. D1 on April 5, 2020 at 6:03 pm

    What about samumed



    • Follicle Thought on April 5, 2020 at 10:41 pm

      D1, more than likely their trial is unaffected by the corona issue because trial participants are applying SM04554 by themselves at their homes. The trial should be continuing as planned and is scheduled to complete in Jan 2021.



      • Alonso on April 18, 2020 at 7:31 pm

        Hi! Do you mind talking to them (Samumed, I mean) so we can know for sure if the trial is still going on? I don´t know if that is too much to ask, but I´m worried… I mean, I understand this whole situation with corona but Samumed seemed to be ahead of every company and now everything is falling apart… Well, I would appreciate that admin. Thanks in advance!



  37. Dhaval Maurya on April 6, 2020 at 1:27 am

    Guys i have some old but interesting research regarding AGA treatment. JUST GOOGLE EFFECT OF CAFFEINE ON HAIR FOLLICLE.
    there u can see that how 0.2mg of caffeine is enough to block dht in scalp when applied TOPICALLY. Dont say that i am drinking coffee and i am bald this works when applied TOPICALLY on the scalp.
    The main good news is,it is as effective as minoxidil 5% but with different mechanism of action i.e. block dht on scalp only
    What if hair loss industry dosent want us to know because it’s very simple and cheap.From today i will start to apply coffee
    On scalp.I always think the solution for AGA condition is either too simple n that’s where our ignorance kick in Or it is too complicated.



    • dwain on April 6, 2020 at 10:06 pm

      are you marketing mate because thats what it sounds like ,I’ve tried caffeine shampoo nothing zero



  38. Greg on April 6, 2020 at 4:42 am

    Admin and others, I’m using topical finasteride, which I make myself because I make it at a much higher dosage than the pharmacies will allow – and it’s doing nothing. Do you recommend I try the oral route, possibly micro-dosing? (0.5 mg instead of 1 mg)



    • Hank on April 6, 2020 at 6:56 am

      you should be consulting doctor about this.



      • Greg on April 7, 2020 at 6:09 am

        I consulted them and they said that with my genetics and family history, I’m very sensitive to DHT so topicals may have less of or little effect on me. That’s why I’m asking y’all for your experiences with oral fin. and advice, and I appreciate it thus far. Anyone have experience with oral fin, besides those who’ve already shared? Thanks



        • Yoda on April 8, 2020 at 10:52 pm

          Why wouldn’t you try oral? It’s more effective than topical…I’ve done both for years. Although I’ve “graduated” to dut. Not sure about micro dosing, I think it’s not necessary. Still do as Hank suggested and consult a dr. at least initially until you become comfortable with the drug.



      • Yoda on April 8, 2020 at 5:29 pm

        Good answer Hank!



  39. Follicle Thought on April 6, 2020 at 10:14 am

    By the way guys, I hopefully have a new article coming this week. Waiting on a reply from a company now.



    • Hartmut on April 6, 2020 at 4:19 pm

      Hoping for a tissuse update



      • Follicle Thought on April 6, 2020 at 9:54 pm

        Me too, immediate news is not related to TissUse but that could always be coming in the next few weeks or months.



  40. Dal on April 7, 2020 at 7:31 pm

    Hey admin, thanks for your amazing work! Would it be possible to have some updates about Dr Xudong Wang’s electric hair device? The results of his first study were pretty exciting for people currently balding or with thinning hair, I would be interested in hearing your opinions about it guys. I believe he was supposed to start human trials earlier this year in order to have the device released to the market by the end of the year



    • Follicle Thought on April 7, 2020 at 10:53 pm

      Dal, I have contacted Dr. Xudong earlier this year and he was hoping to begin trials in a few months, that is most likely slowed down because of corona, so we’ll see in a month or so how it’s coming along.



  41. Soul on April 9, 2020 at 4:42 am

    Hey, admin, you think this is a problem?

    http://www.organ-technol.co.jp/en/index/
    2020-4-1
    Our organization change
    Takashi Tsuji resigned from the director position and took office as adviser.

    thank you



    • Follicle Thought on April 9, 2020 at 11:09 am

      Soul, I don’t believe this is a significant issue. Sometimes things like this happen strictly for “technical” reasons such as the restructuring of a contract or tax purposes. It’s quite possible that Dr. Tsuji’s day to day work with Organ Technologies is exactly the same, with a different title now.



      • Soul on April 9, 2020 at 12:41 pm

        Thank you, Admin. Sorry for putting “hey” instead of “hello” I’m Spanish and the translator sometimes changes the words, sorry.



        • Follicle Thought on April 9, 2020 at 1:52 pm

          No worries for the word hey, it’s appropriate for me.



          • Greg on April 9, 2020 at 7:30 pm

            Admin, so you don’t think that his title would really make a difference in his work? I mean, this kind of thing seems to happen a lot in companies and their products go on as normal.



            • Follicle Thought on April 9, 2020 at 9:16 pm

              Greg, I don’t think the title change necessarily signifies a major role change for Tsuji. He could still be doing the same day-in day-out work with Organ Technologies.

              The Japanese translation to English from O.T. website reads as follows: “Tsuji retired from the board and assumed the role of Chief Technical Advisor” Board seats are known to be erratic positions at most companies due to the politics and privileges involved in being a board member. Being on the Board of Directors at a company can also interfere with a person’s ability to work with/for another company simultaneously due to conflict of interests. Another hypothetical example: Dr. Tsuji could have taken on an advisory role at a new company (not O.T.) and in order to do so he had to not be on the board of directors of any other companies. Or perhaps something came up with Riken (Tsuji’s original research institute workplace) and it was decided best for Tsuji not to be on the Organ Tech BOD. These things do happen, perhaps you’ve seen a question like this on a job application before.



  42. mt on April 9, 2020 at 2:35 pm

    Hello everyone,

    Admin, I think the problem is more important given the fact that if Dr. Tsuji resigned from the director position he will no longer lead the project but will simply provide advice (probably as an external advisor)…



    • Follicle Thought on April 9, 2020 at 3:25 pm

      mt, we can only speculate at this point. Everyone outside of Organ Tech is only offering a guess. If Tsuji switched roles because there is an issue with the hair technology or if Tsuji switched roles merely as an insignificant formality, we will not know, but may find out in the distant future.



      • Greg on April 10, 2020 at 6:34 am

        Yeah, that’s true admin. I guess position changes are pretty common and are not always a bad thing. I think Elon Musk actually hired people to run the business side of Tesla so he could dedicate most of his time to design.



  43. Dimitri on April 9, 2020 at 5:38 pm

    When is the new article coming out?



    • Follicle Thought on April 9, 2020 at 8:52 pm

      Dimitri, I should have a new article coming either tomorrow or early next week, just checked in with a company who is compiling their interview answers and sharing some data. Should be a good article I think.



      • Yoda on April 10, 2020 at 5:16 pm

        It will be a good article Admin, they usually are!



    • Follicle Thought on April 10, 2020 at 5:15 pm

      The article will be next week Dimitri, I’m sure they’re going to send their stuff Mon/Tue.



  44. Nils on April 10, 2020 at 3:44 pm

    Can you concact Tsuji/Riken ?
    I think they should release some information now



    • Hartmut on April 12, 2020 at 2:34 am

      ADMIN: I think Nils deserves an answer!



    • Follicle Thought on April 12, 2020 at 12:39 pm

      I can try Nils, however Riken is not involved in this situation, this situation involves Tsuji and Organ Technologies. Organ Technologies rarely responds to email inquiries but I will let you know if they do.



      • Nils on April 12, 2020 at 7:46 pm

        Thank you



  45. DueDilligence on April 11, 2020 at 3:51 pm

    Hi Admin,

    First and foremost, thank you for the effort you’ve put out to keep the masses informed on progression in hair loss remedies. This is my top resource for this news (and I’ve covered many)

    A request/idea to further enhance the value add of this blog: many of us have done substantive research on the numerous therapies and procedures available to hair loss sufferers available today. However, there is no real consolidated forum with both clinical research, a clean layout, and a somewhat well-educated community which you have built here. Might i suggest that you include a section on this blog named something to the effect of “Current available treatments” which has articles dedicated to each treatment; ex. PRP Therapies – basic info, applicable clinical trials, top questions to ask doctors (number of spins, model of centrifuge used, CC of PRP used, etc.) and the comment section for the community to engage in. I believe providing this section would make this blog a one stop shop for all seeking information on hair loss treatments both present and future.

    Anyway, food for thought.

    Best,
    DD



    • Follicle Thought on April 11, 2020 at 10:42 pm

      DD, thank you for the kind words and the suggestion. I will certainly put this on the to-do list for Follicle Thought. Mostly, I just have to figure out how I want to convey that information, for example should it be in new articles or should be a separate section of the website with a list of articles for available treatments only.



  46. Paul on April 12, 2020 at 4:24 pm

    Questions for admin and anyone else who is interested in Tsuji:

    What stage are we at? What is the next step? What specifically are we waiting on?

    I’ve read conflicting reports about human trials. Are we waiting to hear if they have started? Or to hear the results? Do we have any sort of timeline at all?



    • Follicle Thought on April 12, 2020 at 5:46 pm

      Happy Easter everyone.

      Paul, The last I’ve heard from Tsuji/Organ Technologies is they are doing preclinical (laboratory based) research using all human cells to create hair follicles in preparation for human trials. No one knows for sure what we are waiting on other than Tsuji and his team, however, an educated guess would be that something in their method still needs further refinement or else they would have begun human trials by now. I suppose it’s possible they have started a silent trial, but, I’ve never heard from any reliable source that human trials have begun and I don’t see why O.T. would not have made a big formal announcement when human trials began. It would attract a lot of attention and potential investment for their company. Because of this I’m fairly certain they are still developing their method. My estimate for a human Tsuji trial is Q4 2020 – Q3 2021, somewhere in that range.



      • Yoda on April 12, 2020 at 6:11 pm

        Do you think if we constantly ask you for updates when there are none that it’ll change the outcome? See Hartmut…geez! 😉 Happy Easter to you Joseph, you continue to be a very patient man. Thanks for all that you do!



      • Paul on April 12, 2020 at 8:11 pm

        Cheers, admin. Appreciate the response. Really hope to hear something positive from Tsuji in the near future. He could make a lot of people very happy!



  47. mt on April 12, 2020 at 6:16 pm

    Hello Everyone,

    Happy Easter ! I agree admin. Furthermore, he has also said (in June 2019) that preparations are underway to begin clinical research at a university hospital within 2019.

    https://project.nikkeibp.co.jp/behealth/atcl/feature/00003/061200009/



    • Paul on April 12, 2020 at 8:13 pm

      Cheers, MT.

      Look at the hair on Tsuji! I don’t think I knew that he looked like that. Maybe he doesn’t have the proper motivation to find a working cure. ?



    • Follicle Thought on April 12, 2020 at 8:21 pm

      Thanks for sharing mt, yes that article says that preparation were underway to begin a human trial in 2019, however there was never a follow-up announcement that the trial began and no trial has shown up on the Japanese clinical trial registry regarding a hair cloning trial, thus it’s assumed the trial was not started and they are still preparing for it.



      • D1 on April 13, 2020 at 2:55 pm

        Did follica ever start their phase 3?



        • Follicle Thought on April 13, 2020 at 9:13 pm

          No, not yet. It will hopefully start in H2 2020.



  48. Follicle Thought on April 13, 2020 at 9:28 pm

    Letting the interested readers know, I have received some new data from a company and the feature article will be coming within the next 2 days.



  49. D1 on April 14, 2020 at 4:40 am

    the suspense is getting to me @Follicle Though



    • Follicle Thought on April 14, 2020 at 10:04 am

      Ok, try not to get hopes up too high. I think it’s a cool story, some people will like it more than others but it does involve a product that could come to market within the next 3 years. Going to type the draft now.



  50. Nils on April 14, 2020 at 10:36 am

    Do you expect that J Hewitt starts his trial this year ?



    • Follicle Thought on April 14, 2020 at 10:47 am

      It’s hard to predict, it is certainly possible once things get back to a more normal state.



      • C on April 14, 2020 at 4:32 pm

        Why do I get the feeling the impending news is more disappointment? For some reason, I surmise the news will be about some marginally-effective anti-DHT topical.



        • Follicle Thought on April 14, 2020 at 7:56 pm

          It seems like that’s just your M.O., C.



  51. Tore40 on April 15, 2020 at 3:07 pm

    hello admin hairclone are there any news? it seems to me the best thing now



  52. Hasan on March 19, 2022 at 11:28 am

    Keep me posted…if you will..any updates etc..thank you..



    • Follicle Thought on March 20, 2022 at 8:34 am

      Hasan, you need to subscribe for updates using your email thank you.



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