follicept - what's this?

[follicept]

I'm curious what gave your group the idea to try IGF-1 with your transdermal delivery method to regrow hair?

The rats we were testing insulin on have a gene knocked out to block hair growth, since we don't want follicles helping deliver drug and/or interfering with the formulation. Yet they were growing full coats in weeks. We were in touch with the breeder, thought something was wrong. Then my boss thought maybe excess insulin was binding to IGF-1 receptors and activating the follicles. So we tried just IGF-1 in the formulation, and boom. We kept cutting the dose by a power of 10 to 1 and 10 ppm, and here we are. We were pushing ahead with that, on the back burner to get to pigs eventually, our outlicense it, when we realized that with such low concentrations and the classification of MPB, we didn't need full human clinical trials. That was 2 weeks ago today, I believe. Rockin and rollin!

[follicept]

There won't be any negative results, even if the outcome is negative. We both know that. Anyway, I do appreciate you came here. Thanks.

Happy to do so, and will return soon with news either way. If there are negative results, we will share them. Maybe it will bring the field one step closer, and all of this will have been a positive contribution.

[unbalding]

The rats we were testing insulin on have a gene knocked out to block hair growth, since we don't want follicles helping deliver drug and/or interfering with the formulation. Yet they were growing full coats in weeks. We were in touch with the breeder, thought something was wrong. Then my boss thought maybe excess insulin was binding to IGF-1 receptors and activating the follicles. So we tried just IGF-1 in the formulation, and boom. We kept cutting the dose by a power of 10 to 1 and 10 ppm, and here we are. We were pushing ahead with that, on the back burner to get to pigs eventually, our outlicense it, when we realized that with such low concentrations and the classification of MPB, we didn't need full human clinical trials. That was 2 weeks ago today, I believe. Rockin and rollin!

Interesting. Of course there are more issues to deal with on a bald human head(e.g. fibrosis) than a single gene being turned off, so I would not expect this to have as dramatic a result on humans. In combination with other treatments though it could be valuable to stimulate growth. How many people are you planning to test it on, and are any of them on any other hair loss treatments, or have been?

[nave13579]

Thank you for your patience Follicept. The majority of us are happy to let you and your team do your work and come back to us when you are ready with results. Successful or not, we all owe it to guys like you who are at least trying.

Keep fighting the good fight, and best of luck.

[noisette]

Why do people who are bothered by hair loss, go on a 'cutting edge' treatment forum online, wait for news on the latest treatments....

....and then whenever news does come of potential future treatments, with experts who have devoted themselves to developing them being willing to communicate openly with us,

They take the opportunity to shit on it...?

If you don't have any faith in new treatments, why are you here?
If you do, then this is an awesome situation. The kind of situation I presume most on here are waiting for.

Maybe it's the modest ego trip one gets from playing the armchair scientist for an anonymous crowd.

+1 Bro, Exactly what I think

[follicept]

Interesting. Of course there are more issues to deal with on a bald human head(e.g. fibrosis) than a single gene being turned off, so I would not expect this to have as dramatic a result on humans. In combination with other treatments though it could be valuable to stimulate growth. How many people are you planning to test it on, and are any of them on any other hair loss treatments, or have been?

Of course. But the gene being turned off is likely a more powerful regulator, so we are confident. We shall see! We need statistical significance, which can come from as few as 20 subjects, so likely somewhere in that neighborhood but still working on study design. Might do a combination of naive vs switching patients.

[follicept]

Thank you for your patience Follicept. The majority of us are happy to let you and your team do your work and come back to us when you are ready with results. Successful or not, we all owe it to guys like you who are at least trying.

Keep fighting the good fight, and best of luck.

Thanks very much! Hope to have some great news soon!

Devon

[oppenheimer82]

The rats we were testing insulin on have a gene knocked out to block hair growth, since we don't want follicles helping deliver drug and/or interfering with the formulation. Yet they were growing full coats in weeks. We were in touch with the breeder, thought something was wrong. Then my boss thought maybe excess insulin was binding to IGF-1 receptors and activating the follicles. So we tried just IGF-1 in the formulation, and boom. We kept cutting the dose by a power of 10 to 1 and 10 ppm, and here we are. We were pushing ahead with that, on the back burner to get to pigs eventually, our outlicense it, when we realized that with such low concentrations and the classification of MPB, we didn't need full human clinical trials. That was 2 weeks ago today, I believe. Rockin and rollin!

very interesting. good luck and i hope for some good news very soon.

[unbalding]

Of course. But the gene being turned off is likely a more powerful regulator, so we are confident. We shall see! We need statistical significance, which can come from as few as 20 subjects, so likely somewhere in that neighborhood but still working on study design. Might do a combination of naive vs switching patients.

Very good, I hope you get the results we're all looking for. Thanks for stopping by, and keep us informed please.

[sdsurfin]

Haha. My IQ is actually quite high, and I've studied at two of the best universities in the country. You don't even know how to speak English, and your "facts" are no more proven than any predictions that I myself have made. I don't purport to know much, if anything, about hair, other than the things I can discern from reading scientific studies. I generally assume though that if top researchers are trying something, tren there might be something to it. Follicept does not bank on mpb for it's success, their technology was never about curing alopecia. They have no reason to post false results for little profit.

[follicept]

I never claimed to know more than these scientists dumbass. At least I always provide legitimate evidence based on facts whereas you do nothing but think with your lowish IQ which equals to a baboon.

Turns out I was mistaken in some of my explanation. From the science team:

Transdermal as we use the term just means getting it into the dermis to reach the dermal papilla of the hair follicle. It's not easy to get across the stratum corneum and the epidermal cellular layers, both of which are rate-limiting for drug delivery. I don't know if nano formulations or nano-rolling actually address the issue. And I certainly don't know of any FDA-approved indication for the use of IGF-1 injections to treat pattern baldness. Even if there were, you would need a pretty high serum level to overcome the effects of high testosterone. Presumably, normal IGF-1 levels are not sufficient or else we wouldn't be having this discussion. Our goal is to deliver IGF-1 to the DP (but not systemically) at levels that block testosterone pathway.

[follicept]

very interesting. good luck and i hope for some good news very soon.

Thanks! Us too!

[follicept]

very interesting. good luck and i hope for some good news very soon.

Thanks!

[follicept]

Very good, I hope you get the results we're all looking for. Thanks for stopping by, and keep us informed please.

Thanks, will do!

[DanWS]

Glad to hear from follicep here. It's good to hear more information - thanks for showing patience and empathy in responding to (understandable) scepticism on the forum. I'm looking forward to the human trials over the next few weeks. The science and professor behind the treatment are making me feel hopeful. Worst case scenario is it doesn't work and nobody loses any money.