New Women’s Hair Loss Treatment Holds Clinical Trial
A Taiwanese company has announced that it is holding a clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of a new product it has developed. While it appears that Energenesis Biomedical’s ENERGI-F701 was originally intended to be used upon men, the company now wants to see if it can treat genetic hair loss in women, too.
The trial is not yet recruiting, but appears to be planned so it will run concurrently with a phase 2 trial using the same drug on men with male pattern baldness. Male pattern baldness and female pattern hair loss are both caused by genetics and are broadly similar, so it is perhaps not surprising that a trial aimed at women has been planned alongside the one for men.
The company hopes to recruit 60 women aged 20 or over whose hair loss is occurring at a rate of at least 100 hairs per day. Half will be given a topical application of ENERGI-F701 on the affected areas of their scalp twice a day for 12 weeks. The other half, a control group, will be given the well-known minoxidil product Regaine - known as Rogaine in the USA - instead.
Participants will be assessed every two weeks, and outcome measures will include the change in the amount of hair loss, the thicknesses and density of the hair, the hair wash/shed hair count at each post-treatment visit, and also the satisfaction of participants.
Energenesis is a relatively new company which has been in existence since 2012 and explains on its website that its focus is something called AMPK (AMP activated protein kinase). This it describes as: “An enzyme critical for balancing cellular energy, capable of activating cells and thereby lowering anabolism, such as curbing gluconeogenesis, glycogen synthesis, fatty acid/cholesterol synthesis, and protein synthesis. It can also augment cellular energy by stepping up catabolism, glycolysis, glucose uptake, fatty acid oxidation, lipid uptake, and mitochondria synthesis.”
A video on the company’s website says that ENERGI-F701 promotes hair growth, prevents hair follicle cells from ageing and leads to less hairloss. It also states that the product can be considered “a combination of Rogaine and Propecia” - meaning minoxidil and finasteride 1mg - despite the drug finasteride being unsuitable for treating women's hair loss.
Furthermore, it ambitiously estimates that after launch its medication could claim at least 10 per cent of the global market share for drugs designed to treat androgenic alopecia. Other products in development by the company include those aimed at treating skin diseases and inflammation.
Genetic hair loss in women is much more common than many people realise and is becoming increasingly prevalent from an earlier age than ever before. Some women with female pattern hair loss may be able to disguise their thinning hair with clever hairstyling, but it is nonetheless distressing to see signs such as an increasingly wider parting, less volume to the hair and thinning at the temples. A number of panel members on top UK daytime TV show Loose Women have spoken about their personal struggles with this, and various other hair loss conditions and the need to end the stigma attached several times.
The good news is that female pattern hair loss, as well as the majority of women's hairloss conditions, can be treated.
Additional hair growth supporting products are often used alongside the only MHRA licensed and FDA approved treatment for female pattern hair loss, to form a fully-rounded regime. These may include an FDA-cleared, handheld low level laser therapy device and Belgravia’s premium hair growth supplement Hair Vitalics for Women which features a potent blend of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and botanicals, including zinc, selenium and biotin for the maintenance of normal hair growth.
Anyone considering investigating women's hair loss treatment options should consult a specialist who can provide recommendations based upon their findings.
The trial is not yet recruiting, but appears to be planned so it will run concurrently with a phase 2 trial using the same drug on men with male pattern baldness. Male pattern baldness and female pattern hair loss are both caused by genetics and are broadly similar, so it is perhaps not surprising that a trial aimed at women has been planned alongside the one for men.
Recruiting 60 women
The company hopes to recruit 60 women aged 20 or over whose hair loss is occurring at a rate of at least 100 hairs per day. Half will be given a topical application of ENERGI-F701 on the affected areas of their scalp twice a day for 12 weeks. The other half, a control group, will be given the well-known minoxidil product Regaine - known as Rogaine in the USA - instead.
Participants will be assessed every two weeks, and outcome measures will include the change in the amount of hair loss, the thicknesses and density of the hair, the hair wash/shed hair count at each post-treatment visit, and also the satisfaction of participants.
Energenesis is a relatively new company which has been in existence since 2012 and explains on its website that its focus is something called AMPK (AMP activated protein kinase). This it describes as: “An enzyme critical for balancing cellular energy, capable of activating cells and thereby lowering anabolism, such as curbing gluconeogenesis, glycogen synthesis, fatty acid/cholesterol synthesis, and protein synthesis. It can also augment cellular energy by stepping up catabolism, glycolysis, glucose uptake, fatty acid oxidation, lipid uptake, and mitochondria synthesis.”
A video on the company’s website says that ENERGI-F701 promotes hair growth, prevents hair follicle cells from ageing and leads to less hairloss. It also states that the product can be considered “a combination of Rogaine and Propecia” - meaning minoxidil and finasteride 1mg - despite the drug finasteride being unsuitable for treating women's hair loss.
Furthermore, it ambitiously estimates that after launch its medication could claim at least 10 per cent of the global market share for drugs designed to treat androgenic alopecia. Other products in development by the company include those aimed at treating skin diseases and inflammation.
Genetic hair loss in women is much more common than many people realise and is becoming increasingly prevalent from an earlier age than ever before. Some women with female pattern hair loss may be able to disguise their thinning hair with clever hairstyling, but it is nonetheless distressing to see signs such as an increasingly wider parting, less volume to the hair and thinning at the temples. A number of panel members on top UK daytime TV show Loose Women have spoken about their personal struggles with this, and various other hair loss conditions and the need to end the stigma attached several times.
Treatable condition
The good news is that female pattern hair loss, as well as the majority of women's hairloss conditions, can be treated.
Additional hair growth supporting products are often used alongside the only MHRA licensed and FDA approved treatment for female pattern hair loss, to form a fully-rounded regime. These may include an FDA-cleared, handheld low level laser therapy device and Belgravia’s premium hair growth supplement Hair Vitalics for Women which features a potent blend of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and botanicals, including zinc, selenium and biotin for the maintenance of normal hair growth.
Anyone considering investigating women's hair loss treatment options should consult a specialist who can provide recommendations based upon their findings.
The Belgravia Centre
The Belgravia Centre is a world-renowned group of a hair loss clinic in Central London, UK. If you are worried about hair loss you can arrange a free consultation with a hair loss expert or complete our Online Consultation from anywhere in the world for home-use treatment.
View our Hair Loss Success Stories, which includes the world's largest gallery of hair growth photos and demonstrates the level of success that so many of Belgravia's patients achieve.
