Follica Male Pattern Hair Loss Treatment Study Progresses

The seemingly endless updates on the on-going development of JAK inhibitor treatments for various forms of hair loss can often steal the spotlight from some of the other innovations being developed in the field.

One of these is hair follicle regeneration, whereby the scalp is lightly wounded in order to induce hair regrowth, or 'hair follicle neogenesis'.

Follica, Inc, one of the companies specialising in this area, has announced it plans to commence what is described in a press release as "a pivotal study" into its proprietory scalp micro-abrasion device for Male Pattern Baldness, at the end of 2019.

Improved hair count after three months

Follica, announced it had seen "positive interim data" from the ongoing safety and optimization study of its new device as a treatment for Male Pattern Hair Loss.

"In addition to being well tolerated and informing key treatment parameters, analysis of 20 male study participants with androgenetic alopecia showed that Follica’s approach achieved a visible and statistically significant improvement in non-vellus (visible) hair count after three months of treatment, compared to baseline. Additionally, blinded head-to-head bench testing of the proprietary Follica device has shown significant therapeutic advantages in scalp treatment versus commercially available skin disruption devices," states the company's 13th June press release.

The men studied in these trials - and those who are being enrolled for future research - were aged 18 to 40 years of age with moderate levels of hair loss. This is classified as a level III to IV on the Hamilton Norwood scale, suggesting that - as with the present clinically-proven hair loss treatments for men - Follica cannot be used to regrow hair in men who are already bald.

How Follica hair follicle regeneration works

Follica explains they way its device works as being designed to "induce an “embryonic window” in order to initiate the formation of new hair follicles from epithelial (skin) stem cells. This occurs through the use of its micro-abrasion device and what it describes as "a topical compound".

Whether or not this 'topical compound' is high strength minoxidil - the only current topical hair loss treatment to be MHRA-licensed and FDA-approved for Male and Female Pattern Hair Loss - remains to be seen.

The original concept on which Follica technology is based was discovered by the University of Pennsylvania, USA, and has been licensed exclusively from them.

“The biology of wounding in humans is very complex, and our ability to translate its effects into new hair growth is sensitive to a range of treatment factors,” says Jason Bhardwaj, chief executive officer of Follica. “From years of clinical testing, we have optimized the dosing, frequency, and several other important parameters and translated these learnings into a unique and proprietary treatment. Based on this interim analysis and the results of three previously conducted studies, we are excited to move forward into a pivotal study at the end of 2019.”

Although still in development, this is certainly an interesting area of research and we will publish updates about this novel treatment option's pipeline here on the Belgravia hair loss blog as more information becomes available.

In the meantime, anyone worried about losing their hair now would be best advised to contact a hair loss specialist for a consultation sooner rather than later; given Male Pattern Baldness is a permanent, progressive condition with no cure, but effective management options, it is advisable that anyone wanting to prevent baldness starts exploring their options as soon as they can in order to see the best possible results.