UCLA Licenses Lactate Hair Growth Drugs

Back in August 2017, UCLA researchers made headlines by discovering a new way to activate hair follicle stem cells. This was done through a metabolite called lactate.

William Lowry and Heather Christofk of UCLA’s Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research were responsible for the lactate discovery. Lowry and Christofk found that hair follicle stem cells produce a metabolite called pyruvate. After production, the stem cells either send pyruvate into their mitochrondria or convert pyruvate into a different metabolite called lactate which activates the stem cells to produce more hair growth. The team then looked for ways to 1) diminish the entry of pyruvate into the mitochrondria and 2) increase production of lactate via the JAK-Stat pathway.

Two drugs that already existed were found to accomplish the two tasks mentioned above. A drug called RCDG423 was found to increase lactate production and another drug called UK5099 was found to block pyruvate from entering the mitochondria in hair follicle stem cells. This story caused quite a stir, but shortly thereafter the discussion on lactate for hair growth would go silent…..until now.

Enter Pelage Pharmaceuticals

On May 28th 2019 it has been announced by UCLA that Lowry, Christofk, and Michael Jung have formed a company named Pelage Pharmaceuticals to develop said compounds for human hair growth. The company is still in preclinical trials. It’s also been announced that Pelage Pharmaceuticals has entered into an agreement with Allergan (major aesthetic pharma company) to sell their entire company to Allergan if the hair growth compounds perform well in the first clinical trials. The Pelage website mentions one advantage of their technology is:

“Significantly greater efficacy than current therapies (minoxidil and finasteride)”

University research that turns into an actual company is typically few and far between. I always had a feeling that this UCLA research was going to turn into something substantial for human use. Now, here we are. Just as always, it’s going to be a number of years for this technology to go through the clinical trial process, but having a new player in the game is a valued asset for everyone. No one knows which drug in development is actually going to be the one to create a big change for those of us dealing with hair loss. I hope to be updating about a clinical trial for Pelage Pharmaceuticals as soon as possible.

Thank you for citing Follicle Thought as your source for this news.

22 Comments

  1. G on May 29, 2019 at 10:08 am

    I am having a hard time understanding why it took so long to get to the trial phase for this.

    If the discovery was made back in 2017, I would have expected somebody to start trials right away.

    A part of me believes there is a monopoly/cartel on the current drugs which is preventing new entrants.



    • Follicle Thought on May 29, 2019 at 10:38 am

      Typically, it’s a time/money factor.

      For example, HairClone was looking to treat patients this year with cultured DP cell injections and they launched a crowdfunding campaign only looking to raise 300,000 GBP to carry this out. So, all they needed was to raise 300,000 from around the world to help bring a new treatment to the world and guess what happened? The world of hair loss sufferers decided not to invest in HairClone and thus the treatment is delayed. Sometimes it’s not a far fetched story which prevents new hair growth drugs from coming to market, just people’s own laziness or lack of participation.



      • Frodo on May 29, 2019 at 11:49 am

        Would topically applying lactate work?



      • Matt on May 30, 2019 at 6:35 am

        What is the status of Hairclone’s upcoming treatments?
        I myself had pledged money on the Capital Cell website, it seems only around 35% of their desired £300,000 was pledged when the campaign ended.
        I’m not sure if the minimum threshold was met as I was never contacted regarding the payment.
        I feel as though less money pledged as there was some ambiguity regarding the process. I’d read some comments where people were unsure how to actually pay towards the crowd funding, not being aware that initially they were only pledging a certain amount. Then, providing enough interest was generated and a minimum threshold met of money pledged, a payment would be made at the end of the campaign.
        Although I’m not certain, I don’t think the threshold for the minimum amount of money pledged was met and thus the campaign failed.
        Would it possible to somehow get some clarity on this from Paul?
        Hairclone have gone fairly quiet,
        There were a few tweets on their twitter alluding to a delay in the approval of their license application to the HTA.
        If you’re still in contact with Paul could you possibly get a follow up of this?
        Thanks,



        • Follicle Thought on May 31, 2019 at 10:58 pm

          I will try to get a follow up with Paul soon, he’s working on getting funded to continue the project I believe.



        • leo on June 7, 2019 at 10:31 am

          Why bold Jeff Bezos couldn’t support Hairclone ?



  2. Seba on May 29, 2019 at 1:47 pm

    I am so fed up of reading this words: sterm cells, trials and years.



    • Follicle Thought on May 29, 2019 at 3:57 pm

      Don’t worry, there is a company now that may bring hair multiplication to market and not need clinical trials.



      • Nancy Schmerbeck on May 29, 2019 at 4:09 pm

        Tell us more and please let me know when we can try any of these products



      • Trauma on May 30, 2019 at 3:35 am

        Who is this company?



        • Follicle Thought on May 31, 2019 at 10:58 pm

          I’ll be publishing some new stuff soon, trust me the product won’t be available before the article comes out. Just trying to help keep spirits high.



          • Chris2 on June 1, 2019 at 1:27 am

            Just keep it coming. One day soon we will be rocking some serious hair



    • js93 on May 30, 2019 at 4:47 pm

      me too ;(



  3. Ahmed bekeer on May 30, 2019 at 9:09 am

    This treatment is in the stage of pre-clinical development therapy, meaning a minimum of 5 years for quality in the market.
    We are tired of waiting long !!!!



  4. PinotQ on June 1, 2019 at 9:42 am

    With respect to G’s question about why it has taken so long to get to the trial phase, I believe I recall that the 2 metabolites found to effectively increase lactate (RCDG423 & UK5099) under their theory were found using high throughput screening. These metabolites had never undergone a toxicity study before which is required in animals before a human clinical trial can begin. Maybe admin knows or can find out if those have been completed. Also, there may have been some question about who had the rights to this. I also recall a company called Carthonix having licensed the right to this research.

    Admin, You mention that Allergan will buy Pelage “if the hair growth compounds perform well in the first clinical trials”. Do you have information from either company that Allergan will make the purchase at the first sign of success (i.e. “first clinical trials”)? I find this a significant detail indicating a high degree of confidence if Allergan would complete the purchase so early on, not just with respect to confidence in the research, but it would seem that Allergan’s resources would come to immediately bear on fast tracking all remaining clinical trials.



    • Follicle Thought on June 1, 2019 at 12:16 pm

      I’ll do my best to find out what stage the preclinical trials are at. Regarding Allergan, that is how licensing options work: if there is success in the trials the larger company will buy. Whether it is the first or second clinical trial I can’t confirm, but it really doesn’t make a difference.



      • Alan J on June 2, 2019 at 9:05 am

        Thanks as ever for your work and the invaluable information you provide. I also pledged some money to HairClone, and hope they can get the funding they need. I suspect the “real” cure will lay more with regeneration rather than rejuvenation ( and I know HairClone are one of a number of companies working on both): but fingers crossed for any improvement on where we are. PS I do wish commentators would drop all the “cartel” nonsense. Apart from the fact that cartels are unlawful just about everywhere (yes, I know that doesn’t in itself mean they don’t happen), the fact is the hair loss market is globalized with lots of players across the World: from Europe, to the US and Asia. The first to market with a real cure stands to make huge amounts of money. So talk of some sort of cartel stopping a cure is plain Trumpian nonsense. PPS am looking forward to a future update on L’Oreal and hair printing. There was a flurry of news on that around three years ago, but nothing since. Needless to say, L’Oreal is a major company and if they crack hair printing that would be a real game changer. Thanks again.



        • Nate on June 3, 2019 at 9:14 pm

          @alanJ You sounded reasonable until you had to throw in that “Trumpian nonsense” BS. Try to give up on the obsession and leave politics out of hair loss if nothing else. Trust me, you’ll be happier for it.



  5. js93 on June 2, 2019 at 2:56 pm

    I hope that if Allergan comes to play things will speed up. They are a huge company so lot of ambition and resources… they are mainly known by being one of the majors companies in providing dermal fillers (the juvederm gama). So I wonder if these drugs will be provided as injections and if the price will be more or less the same. I’m fed up with waiting… in the meanwhile I’ll make some money to pay some of these treatments… so far I’m broken and can just rely on rubbing some onions on my scalp.



  6. Nick on June 3, 2019 at 12:21 pm

    USC is also doing research with stem cells. I’m not sure how far they are along in the process.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/10/13/usc-stem-cell-scientists-developing-a-new-cure-all-for-baldness.html



  7. G on June 3, 2019 at 1:15 pm

    Hey,

    Ever hear anything about this:

    http://m.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=5258



  8. […] Thought has covered Pelage Pharma news here and here. It is promising to see the advancements made by Pelage, and we look forward to seeing the results […]



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