Hair Multiplication
| Hair Multiplication at a glance | |
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Treatment |
The good: Unlimited supply of donor hair to refill the bald spots. The bad: Not available yet, no firm timeline, no firm price, no demonstrated quality. Bottom Line: Easily the best hope for a "cure", this will fill in the gap between now and a hairloss vaccination someday in the future.
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Hair Multiplication (Hair Cloning, Follicle Cloning) is a commercially developed technology to harvest donor hair cells, duplicate them, then reimplant into balding areas.
Stem cells and dermal papilla cells have been discovered in hair follicles and some researchers predict research on these follicular cells may lead to successes in treating baldness through hair multiplication, also called hair cloning.
This treatment is expected to initially work through the following steps:
- Harvesting cells from existing follicles
- Multiplying them in cultures
- Injecting or implanting groups of cells back into the scalp.
There is some evidence that this process also transmits chemical signals to nearby follicle cells which have shrunk during the aging process, which then respond to these signals by regenerating and once again making healthy hair. In the future, this may be the central approach, and indeed is similar to what Follica announced recently. (See timeline)
A third HM option has recently come to attention which includes a traditional hair transplant, followed by regenerating the extracted hairs via a novel stem cell approach. (See ACELL)
Unfortunately, HM appears to be taking longer than expected. The first products are now expected to hit the market in 2009/2010. However, it remains unclear how effective they are going to be. It has been suggested that only future generations of HM will allow patients to grow as much hair as they want.
HM is primarily being developed by two independent companies: Aderans Research Institute and Intercytex.[1] [2]
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[edit] Current Status
- Intercytex has completed Phase I (Safety) and Phase-II (Efficacy) results [3], and will release the data for ICX-TRC in Q2 2008.
- Aderans is currently involved in Phase I trials in Europe and is applying to the FDA for a stateside trial.
[edit] Timeline
March 17 2008 - Intercytex Phase II trial completed, result release delayed until Q2 2008[4]
September 25 2007 - Some Intercytex Phase II results released[3]; trial continues.
August 24 2007 - Intercytex announces that it will report its interim results for ICX-TRC during the six months ended 30 June 2007 on Tuesday September 25, 2007. [1]
May 2007 - U.S. company Follica, announced they have licensed technology from the University of Pennsylvania which can regenerate hair follicles by reawakening genes which were once active only in the embryo stage of human development. [2] [3] [4] [5][6]
January 2007 - Italian stem-cell researchers say they've come up with a new technique for curing baldness. Pierluigi Santi of a Genoa clinic said stem cells could be used to "multiply" hair roots. He said the clinic would be ready to perform its first hair transplants on priority patients - those who have lost their hair in fires or other accidents - within a few months. After that, he said, "we'll open our doors to paying customers". Santi's approach works by splitting roots and growing new follicles.
October 2006 - UK biotechnology firm Intercytex announced ICX-TRC, a process wherein they have successfully tested a method of removing hair follicles from the back of the neck, multiplying them and then reimplanting the cells into the scalp. The initial testing resulted in 70% of male patients regrowing hair. This treatment method is expected to be available to the public by 2009 [7][8]. On October 6, 2006, the company was awarded a £1.85 million ($3.63 million) grant by the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through the Technology Programme to develop an automated manufacturing process for ICX-TRC, Intercytex’s novel hair regeneration therapy. The grant will be used primarily to develop a dedicated robotic system to support the commercial-scale production of dermal papilla (DP) cells, the main cells involved in hair regeneration and the key component of ICX-TRC. Preliminary reports of efficacy of ICX-TRC in hair restoration are expected in fall of 2007.
[edit] Companies
The following companies are researching or actively developing Hair Multiplication:
- Follica has also made progress, but they are technically developing hair regeneration via wounding, not "classic" Hair Multiplication.
[edit] Considerations
There are still many unknowns at this moment:
[edit] Hair direction
With traditional hair transplant techniques, the direction to which the hair is inserted dictates how the hair will grow. It is therefor vital that hair is implanted in a natural direction. With Hair Multiplication, it has been suggested that the hair will naturally take on the native direction, but as of yet this has not been demonstrated.
[edit] DHT resistance
Because the donor hairs are from typically DHT-resistant areas of the scalp, it's been assumed that the newly developed hairs will also be resistant. This has yet to be fully proven.
[edit] Hair Cycle
[edit] Result Consistency
The best results from Hair Multiplication are still not entirely consistent. Intercytex has posted results in the range of 13%-105% regrowth. This is expected to improve as they refine their techniques.
[edit] Multiple Applications
It is unknown if multiple applications will yield new hair each time, or if there is some biological ceiling in a balding scalp. It's been assumed that there isn't, but this hasn't yet been shown.
[edit] Side Effects
Unknown at this time.
[edit] See also
- Intercytex
- Aderans Research Institute
- Follica
- Genoa clinic
- Search for "Hair Multiplication" at: HairLossTalk.com, HairLossHelp.com, Hairsite.com
[edit] References
- ↑ Hair Cloning Nears Reality as Baldness Cure. Webmd.com (Nov. 4, 2004). Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
- ↑ Big Baldness Breakthrough?. Associated Press (Mar. 15, 2004). Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Intercytex Phase II Hair Multiplication Trial Update
- ↑ Intercytex Phase II Hair Multiplication Completed Trial Results