Vixen Pharmaceuticals Acquired By Aclaris Therapeutics
Well you guys asked for it, right?
An established pharmaceutical company has acquired the rights to Angela Christiano’s hair growth research involving JAK inhibitors. Aclaris Therapeutics has entered into an agreement with Vixen to acquire all of the stock of Vixen Pharmaceuticals. For those unaware, Vixen Pharma is the small startup company that Christiano founded to base her JAK inhibitor intellectual property rights under. This now gives Aclaris the rights to use JAK inhibitors for alopecia areata, androgenic alopecia, and other skin conditions.
What’s also enlightening is that last November (2015), Aclaris acquired exclusive rights to use JAK3 Inhibitor compounds from two major manufacturing companies, JAKPharm LLC and Key Organics. That was five months ago and we were all none the wiser. I always tell people, things go on behind the scenes that we are not aware of, be ready for good news.
Here’s a quote from Neal Walker, CEO of Aclaris, about using the JAK Inhibitors for what you all want him to use them for:
“The acquisition of the Vixen intellectual property and the licensed JAKPharm and Key Organics compounds solidifies Aclaris’ presence in the JAK inhibitor space and allows us to broaden our focus in hair loss to include androgenetic alopecia, often referred to as female or male pattern baldness,”
Sounds like they’ve got the right idea. I wonder now if Angela Christiano is going to take a nice vacation or continue at the hair research for something even better. Hmmm. Oh yeah, here’s the source article.
Looking Ahead: Here is a view at Aclaris’ pipeline page which shows two products for alopecia areata currently. One is by oral administration and one by topical. I believe the pipeline will be updated with a slot for androgenetic alopecia very soon. Yes, these drugs will still have to go through clinical trials in order to be approved as a hair growth treatment. Angela Christiano did mention that she thought there might need to be a high concentration of JAK inhibitors around the hair follicle in order to induce hair growth cycling in non-areata related cases. That leads me to believe that there is a specific formula being developed to penetrate the skin and get deep into the hair follicle.
Follicle Thoughts
This is great news. Be happy. 🙂
Wooihoooo!!!!???????????????????????????????????????????????? does this pharmacy still need to get approval for use or will they be ready to package fill orders and sell???
Sheila Mizrahi
Hi Sheila,
I love the enthusiasm, and yes the pharmaceutical company will have to go through the trials. I know, I’m eager too! Still, it’s wonderful that the news was released today and not two years from now.
Hey Joseph, I was told that the trials would be much shorter due to the fact that these Jak inhibitors were already approved? Is this true?
Sam,
It’s a good theory and I’ve heard it as well, but I’ve not seen any info from a solid source. That’s something that a pharma industry person would have to answer. It’s not unobtainable info, but it has been obscure so far.
Yes agreed. I emailed Aclaris and they have told me they sent my message to a different department in there company to answer
God bless Dr Angela Christiano and her team. Bringing hope for all the androgenic alopecia sufferers.
Joseph,
Thank you so much for sharing this good news!! I wondered if, when, who was ever going to try these meds on aga!! At last, a sign!
On Alopecia World many sufferers of AA, AU, AT are sharing the outcomes of these new meds. I am sure we will know more soon about Topical formulations with this population.
Thank you, Joseph!!
I don’t want to jump the gun. While this is a good news, it’s way too early to discuss trials since we still don’t know if/when they will be able to find the right formula and dosage. I remember not too long ago in her interview-maybe Jan or Feb?- Christiano said there was still a lot of study to be done. Do you think she was just being careful not to disclose too much before this business deal? Aclaris must have approached her way before the interview was done.
Hi Ares,
I don’t believe talking about trials is jumping the gun. The purpose of trials is to find the right dosage etc. One thing I do know is that bigger companies spend money on new intellectual property in order to put the research through trials…
i’m gonna jump the gun, find a way to buy this NOW and apply it to my scalp NOW
LoL 🙂
Wait a minute????… If you think of it we could get those early.. From what I’ve been told AA is just the same as AGA except more aggressive. Both make you hair follicles go dormant. So by theory it would be safe to say that AA treatment could help with AGA and all what you will need is a prescription for AA
This is brilliant news, but guys remember that JAK inhibitors are serious drugs (used for the likes of auto immune disorders such as Arthertis). I’m happy to wait for the trials to make sure the thing is safe!
Hey James,
I totally agree with you. It is ok for us to get a little excited about the news, but we do want to know how these things will pan out in a clinical trial setting. Dr. Christiano did mention that drugs have a very short half life which would potentially lessen side effects.
JAK inhibitors are already approved by the FDA.
Follicle Thought: – When we could have them available in pharmacies ? Millions of men and women pray to have a new treatment for MPB .
Commenter,
It’s hard to say. The trials could take years, however there is a possibility of them being using off-label. It’s important to mention that JAKinibs are not the only treating coming for MPB. They’re really not my favorite prospect at the moment. I’m really loving Histogen, Replicel, and the potential of several new topicals.
I’m very optimistic that science will one day discover an ultimate cure for MPB, but I’m also a realist when it comes to facts and data. This acquisition is indeed a great thing, but I’m having a hard time understanding what it actually tells us about the release date of a product that isn’t necessarily created yet. JAK sounds great but I’m curious as how long trials would go on. By this time Replicel may be out, please prove me wrong.
Hey Jeff,
Thanks for commenting. Looking at information analytically is usually a good idea in my opinion. In regards to this JAK inhibitor hair growth tech, the most important part of the technology are the JAK inhibitors themselves and they’ve already been created. You mentioned that this product necessarily isn’t created yet, that could very well be true. However, for pharmaceutical companies it’s fairly elementary to turn an oral medication into an effective topical solution. As far as how long it would take to create, that’s not the issue here.
Indeed, it would be years before this treatment was FDA approved, which is really not too long of a time in the grand scope of things. I tend to lean towards the previous commenter James who was more interested in the safety of using these jakinibs. I definitely expect Replicel to be out before a jakinib for hair growth in the USA. (jakinibs = nickname for JAK inhibitors)
Im very confusing that there is a some people telling jak is not effective on AGA and
jak is for AA (immune system disorder)
what i have to believe???? So confusing…
please jak will be the hope for AGA People.
Kim,
I hope all is well. For clarification, JAKinibs have shown to definitely be effective for AA, they have also shown to hold potential for AGA. The public does not know the full story and if a major company like Aclaris bought out Vixen to pursue AGA trials there is a good chance they had a reason to. Ya know?
Thank you for your listening.
I also hope that all is well too.
what about the turkish product?
Which one are you referring to Cris?
kelopesia
Thanks in advance Admin
great blog.
Yes Cris,
The article was published March 14th and states that the product would be launching in Turkey in about 1-2 months. We’re at April 7th now.
Don’t worry, I did not forget about Kelopesia or you guys. Will keep you posted.
Cheers
Have you read about the so called cure from thorn medical admin?
Yes, just doing my background research on it currently and will post soon.
Hello Joseph,
When we have a new treatment for MPB? I don’t understand why we have more than 20 years without a treatment for androgenetic alopecia.
and 15 years without any real progress in the field of hair transplantation!
Do you know when we have a update or a game changer in the field? We really need it.
Hello Louis,
Nice to hear from you. All of the information I can speak about is listed on the site. Things look good for 2018 for sure. Other products that pop up and could be out sooner are worth our attention. Let’s see how Kelopesia does over the next 4 months. 🙂
I am optimistic, and look forward to see this product available in pharmacies.