Baldness cure which reverses genetics could start clinical trials in two years
- Protein which stops hair follicles maturing found by scientists
- The team behind the discovery is in talks with drugs companies which may put a cure on the market in two years
A cure for baldness may be available on the market sooner than previously thought after a breakthrough in negotiations between scientists and drugs companies.
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania believe they have discovered the reason for baldness, an enzyme which shuts down hair follicles.
Dr George Cotsarelis announced this week that he is in talks with several pharmaceutical companies about developing treatments and hopes to start clinical trials as early as in two years time.
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| Cure: The discovery this year could revolutionise treatment for baldness |
Drugs that block the protein are already available on the marked as they are used to treat asthma and allergies.
Dr Cotsarelis and his dermatological team at the University of Pennsylvania, discovered that enzyme Prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) prevented hair follicles from maturing.
The link between genetics and baldness have long been common knowledge but not the cause.
But when the team analysed the scalps of balding men, they found levels of PDG2 to be three times higher in areas in which the hair was thinning.
Earlier work by the same team found bald men have cells capable of making hair; they have just failed to mature.
It is thought that PGD2 prevents the cells maturing - and stopping it from working would allow hair to grow again.
In tests on lab and on mice, the compound stunted hair growth, the journal Science Translational Medicine reported in March.
‘Blockers’ of the enzyme have been formulated as pills to cure asthma and allergic conditions but it should be possible to turn them into a lotion which could be applied to the scalp.
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| Hair we go: At the moment men have very few options for treating baldness |
‘We certainly think it would be good at preventing hair loss but we don’t know for sure that it would regrow.’
Lab test suggest the treatment may also help women who are losing their hair.
Female hair loss carries an even greater stigma than the male condition, but is not as uncommon as many people may believe.
About 40 per cent of women suffer from some form of hair loss as a result of hormone changes during menopause.
For men this number is significantly higher according to Dr Cotsarelis.
By the age of 50 nearly half of all men have some degree of male pattern baldness, a number which rockets to 70 per cent by the age of 70.
Dr Cotsarelis said: ‘We think these findings will have implications beyond male pattern baldness but, even if they don’t, we think it will be exciting.
‘There is a large number of people who would rather have hair than not.’ If developed the drug would revolutionise the hair regrowth market.
Britain’s 7.4million bald and balding men have limited options of cures for their conditions.
Hair transplants are painful and expensive and success is variable.
The only two drugs available have high-risk side effects.
Testosterone blocker Propecia may cause impotence and a second drug, Amexidil, which increase blood flow to the hair follicles could in fact accelerate hair loss.
Other treatments in development elsewhere include a jab that uses fat cells from the tummy to pep up hair growth on the scalp.
