Can their medications turn back the clock?
BY ALISA HRUSTIC
April 6, 2017
Source: menshealth.com
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Ever wish you could turn back the clock? Samumed, a $12 billion private biotech startup in San Diego, hopes to do just that, reports Business Insider.
The pharmaceutical research company has been working on a variety of treatments aimed at re-growing hair on balding heads, smoothing out wrinkles, and restoring cartilage in frail joints.
How? The science behind their treatments, which have yet to be FDA approved, works by manipulating the stems cells in your body.
For example, one of Sumamed’s drugs for male pattern baldness is being tested as a means of regrowing your hair follicles. According to initial trial studies, one of which was presented at the recent annual American Academy of Dermatology meeting, men taking the drug designed to spur that process saw greater hair-follicle growth than men taking a placebo.
But some experts approach the findings with raised eyebrows: “Can you generate a long-lasting tissue that can negotiate its way through to aging, fibrosis, damage, and stay put all these years?” Shahin Rafii, M.D., a professor of genetic medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College told Business Insider.
Plus, this isn't the first healthcare start-up to experience some skepticism. Theranos, a blood-testing company once valued at $9 billion, suffered a significant blow after the Wall Street Journal published an investigative report that questioned the accuracy of the lab's technology, eventually leading to a shut down of its retail labs.
But Sumamed is standing by their products, and has developed seven drugs targeted at 10 different diseases, which are up to phase two of human clinical trials. The medications target cosmetic issues, like wrinkles, and more serious medical concerns, like osteoarthritis and even certain kinds of cancer.
But the treatments are far from FDA evaluation, meaning they won’t be hitting the market just yet.
Looking for a solution now? Here are five ways you can stop balding. And if you really want to ease the hands of time, take these simple steps tonight and you’ll younger by tomorrow morning, no fancy meds necessary.
