RepliCel Life Sciences, Inc. (REPCF) recently provided an update on its first-in-man clinical trial, TS001-2009, for a potentially revolutionary new treatment for hair loss in men and women. The highly anticipated results from the initial six-month post injection follow-up period are nearly collected.
Seventeen of the 19 subjects have had their six-month follow-up visit. During these visits, they had their overall health evaluated, including subjective and objective assessments of the verum and placebo injection sites. Digital pictures were also taken of the scalp injection sites. The remaining two patients will complete their six-month follow-ups by the end of March, while four patients should finish their 12-month follow-ups by that same time.
The TS001-2009 study team will be doing thorough reviews of the data available throughout the months of March and April this year. When completed, this will lead to the study being "un-blinded," so that the analysis team can analyze the collected data. The patients will also continue to be monitored through 2013 for any changes in their overall health.
New Treatment With Great Potential
At the core of RepliCel's revolutionary new technology is an innovative process that focuses on the regenerative properties of the dermal sheath cup cells which are found in hair follicles. By extracting the cells from a patient's healthy hair follicles–typically found in the lower area of the back of the scalp–and replicating them in a proprietary culture medium for several months, the company's scientific team believes that by re-injecting these replicated cells back into balding areas on the patient's scalp, they could potentially stimulate hair growth.
What results is a treatment that is minimally invasive and cosmetically preferable given that previous studies showed that the rejuvenated hair follicles grew in an evenly-distributed manor on SCID mice.
RepliCel Could Change Hair Loss Forever
The exciting potential of RepliCel's new treatment lies in the way it uses a patient's own hair follicles to create new hair growth. Not only does this mean getting back one's real, natural hair, but it also has applications that previous treatments lacked. In particular, the treatment has the potential to offer females who had, to this point, lacked a strong treatment option for hair loss.
