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Cures For Hair Loss 2023 - News Feed
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Another Drug Approved For Alopecia Areata: Litfulo Ritlecitinib
In June 2023, the US FDA approved its second oral drug against alopecia areata, ritlecitinib. This kinase inhibitor blocks JAK 3 and tyrosine kinase which creates a therapeutic effect on auto-immune disorders. The drug will be branded as Litfulo and is intended to treat severe alopecia areata in people above the age of 12. Eli Lilly's Olumiant, which became the first approved oral drug for AA back in June 2022, is only approved for adults.
Kintor KX-826 Pyrtilutamide Phase 3 Trial Approval Delayed?
On July 19, 2023, Kintor Pharmaceutical announced the first patient enrollment in a new long-term safety phase III trial of KX-826 in AGA in China. Note, this is in addition to the phase 3 trial for male AGA which began in January 2022 in China. The new phase 3 trial will evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of KX-826 in males and females over the course of a 52 week dosing period and will include 270 subjects. It may be the case that the Chinese regulatory agency requested that Kintor complete a longer phase 3 trial than the original 24 week trial which began last year. At this time, it appears that the potential approval timeline for KX-826/pyrilutamide may be pushed back until the completion of the latest safety phase 3 trial.
Mallia Therapeutics Raises Funds For CD83 Hair Growth Therapy
Head to the Articles page to read the new writeup on Mallia Therapeutics' latest developments for soluble CD83 (sCD83). Mallia Therapeutics (formerly MalliaBiotech) have also unveiled a new website which is linked in the article.
Life Code WCD2023 Poster
Life Code, a company participating in the World Congress of Dermatology Singapore 2023, recently shared a poster displaying hair growth data with Follicle Thought. The company uses an artificial intelligence drug discovery platform called PetaPoly to find new molecules for various biological conditions. Life Code found a molecule called LCH34 for hair growth purposes. Check the main Articles page to view Life Code's poster.
Amplifica Announces New Compound AMP-303
Amplifica has been very active in the first half of 2023. They announced the addition of SCUBE 3 (AMP-601) to their pipeline back in January, and announced osteopontin (AMP-203) in June as another compound discovered from Maksim Plikus' research into hairy moles and hair growth. Now, just a week after the AMP-203 announcement, Amplifica has issued a press release for the initiation of a clinical trial for new mystery compound AMP-303. The front page and Articles page has the full Amplifica story.
StimuSIL: Injecting Laser Therapy Subdermally
StimuSIL is medical device startup based in Europe which has developed a patented, proprietary technology which allows laser therapy to reach beneath the skin's surface. The company intends to stimulate hair follicles beneath the melanin layer with laser light and through other means to achieve improved results. Recently, StimuSIL has initiated a multi-center clinical trial to gauge the efficacy of their device.
Our affiliated feature on StimuSIL: StimuSIL's SAGA-001: A New Paradigm in Laser Therapy For Hair Loss
StimuSIL is putting on a webinar for potential investors, patients, and anyone who is interested in learning more about their technology, clinical trials, and pathway ahead. Register for the webinar below. (This is not financial advice)
Update: The webinar has been postponed.
Everyone who signed up for the webinar, like myself, was contacted and informed that the webinar was postponed due to StimuSIL’s CMO Dr. Gerrish encountering a last minute flight delay. The current date for rescheduling is Thursday, July 13th, at 1 PM EST.
Register here ✍: Webinar Sign Up Form
Amplifica Shares Hairy Moles Hair Growth Update
Amplifica, the California biotech founded by Drs. Maksim Plikus and William Rassman, announced today the imminent start of a clinical trial for one of the company's pipeline drugs. Having previously discussed SCUBE3 (a signaling molecule) in the media, today Amplifica announced its research into osteopontin, another protein involved in the "hairy mole" phenomenon. To summarize, over the past several years, Dr. Maksim Plikus has been studying human skin moles and has sought to elucidate why moles tend to grow strong terminal hairs even when they are located on skin which would not typically grow such type of hairs. Dr. Plikus has identified several molecules involved in this process including SCUBE3, osteopontin, and others and is currently working to translate his findings into clinical therapies. Plikus' media commentary today stated that Amplifica is intending to begin a clinical trial for osteopontin scalp injections before the end of the summer, and that the treatment would be similar to botox injections.
OliX Pharmaceuticals Begins Human Trial For RNAi Drug
Today, OliX Pharmaceuticals announced the first patient has been dosed in its phase 1 clinical trial of drug candidate OLX72021 in treating androgenic alopecia. From today's release, the trial will include 30 males divided into 5 cohorts who will receive an injection of OLX72021 or placebo. OliX's drug works to silence or prevent the expression of the androgen receptor, which is an approach we have recently seen in the global pharma setting. Distinctively, OliX's OLX72021 is proposed to be an injectable therapy rather than topical. Only time will tell the potential benefits or subtractions from using injection as the treatment modality. Finally, OliX Pharmaceuticals reiterated its intent to create hair loss cosmeceuticals in today's announcement.
New Androgen Receptor Degrader Enters The Field
AnHorn Medicines, a Taiwan-based biotech specializing in protein degradation, has recently announced plans to develop a hair loss therapeutic. The drug, AH-001, is categorized as an androgen receptor degrader, as opposed to the more familiar androgen receptor inhibitors. Head to the Articles page to read more about AnHorn Medicines current developments.
Can MicroRNA-205 Rejuvenate Human Hair Follicle Stem Cells?
A new study led by Rui Yi and fellows at Northwestern University has identified a specific miRNA (microRNA) which may play a role in hair follicle development. The study titled "MicroRNA-205 promotes hair regeneration by modulating mechanical properties of hair follicle stem cells" was published May 22, 2023 in PNAS. Apparently, hair follicle stem cells become stiff and rigid as they age which leads to a decrease in hair growth. The Northwestern group discovered that miRNA-205 is able to soften the stem cells, which also rejuvenated their hair growth-inducing properties.
Importantly, Yi was quoted to say "Because of the potential to deliver microRNA by nanoparticles directly into the skin, next we will test whether topically delivered miR-205 can stimulate hair growth first in mice. If successful, we will design experiments to test whether this microRNA can promote hair growth potentially in humans.” The study was conducted using genetically engineered mice.