US government owned patent on hair follicle neogensis

[Desmond84]

Good find

Wow, this is definitely some exciting stuff. Another branch of Wakeford is working with DARPA on "skin-on-a-chip" technology, with similar aims.

But, if you wanna be realistic, don't get too excited when you see filed patents alone. They are not peer-reviewed research papers and are simply claims made by a company. The best example is Aderans Research Institute. They have been filing very similar patents to the ones on this thread since 2002 and have failed miserably to reproduce their claims in a human patient. Here's a link to one of their patents:

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20150113672

[0008] Reconstituted human skin containing cycling mature human hair follicles which produce normal pigmented hair shafts has been created. The reconstituted human skin contains a full subcutis layer, and hair follicles that form therein that grow in a distinctive pattern seen in the skin from which the cells are derived. The skin is created by obtaining multipotent and differentiated epidermal cells and differentiated dermal cells, culturing the epidermal and dermal cells/multipotent cells separately and separately passaging the proliferated cells, mixing the cells together to form a cell suspension, applying the suspension to an inert biocompatible substrate suitable for attachment of cells such as a slightly permeable silicone membrane, allowing the cells to attach to the substrate, typically about one to two hours, then applying the attached cells to full thickness wounds of small dimension. The ratio of multipotent and differentiated epidermal cells is in the range from 1:1 to 10:1. Areas to be implanted with cultured cells to form hair follicles are typically prepared using a one to two mm punch biopsy. The areas into which the cells are to be implanted may be as large as 0.5 to 2 cm2 and between 0.6 and 0.8 cm deep, however. The substrate is secured to the site to insure the cells remain within the wound site. Reconstituted skin covering an area of 0.1-2 cm2 may hold from 50-2000 mature hair follicles per cm2.

[lacazette]

Hey Desmond

What is interesting is that the main objective of this US army research is to treat their injuried burned soldiers, who live nightmares with the current skin grafts method

And the most crucial point to create new good skin, is the follicle neogenesis that lead to a functional hair follicle.
So the best researchers with the best technologies and without funding problems, worked exactly on the point that we hairloss sufferers needed. (we are lucky^^)

Since aderans the progress on regenerative medecine knowledge,methods and technologies is unbelievable fast all over the world and concerns all the human diseases. And it's exponential hehe

I agree with you on not to be too excited until the results of their skin graft and mpb trial.
But in my case i can't, cause it's not a private company trying to treat hair loss.
It's the stronger army in the world who tried to find a solution for their 30% of injuried soldiers that are suffering, and some have nightmare lives, and don't have current solutions.

And luckily for us, to find this solution, they had to work exactly on what we needed

So in my opinion, like unlimited times before in history, the keys for an invention will comes from army and military use

Of course it will take time, but they enrolling right now for a mpb trial, so we won't wait that long to see if their inventions confirms its success

[lacazette]

[0131] The most common form of hair loss is a progressive hair thinning condition called androgenic alopecia. Hair loss can occur on any part of the body and can arise from any number of factors. For example, traction alopecia is most commoniy found in people who pull on their hair with excessive force into ponytails or cornrows. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disorder that can result in hair loss in just one location (alopecia areata monolocularis), or can result in the loss of every hair on the entire body (alopecia areata universalis). Hypothyroidism, tumors, and skin outgrowths (such as cysts) also induce localized baldness. Hair loss can also be caused by chemotherapy, radiation therapy, childbirth, major surgery, poisoning, mycotic infections, and severe stress. In addition, iron deficiency is a common cause of hair thinning. In many cases of hair loss, the hair follicles have stopped cycling and have entered a quiescent stage. In other cases, the hair follicles are lost completely, or never formed in the first place.
[0132] The compositions and methods of the invention are useful for treating any condition requiring growth of hair follicles.

[jpar]

the trial says explicitly this is for people with androgenic alopecia, if you have anything else your not eligible to participate

[lacazette]

Yes we have the most complicated type of hairloss and we are millions hehe! if it works for us, it'll work for others whatever the causes

[jpar]

one of the first questions I'm going to ask is "what is the stock market symbol for the company thats going to market this" lol shit if its a penny stock right now, omfg

[nohawk]

Hopefully the skin grafts can help that poor idiot that derma rolled his scalp into ground beef.... donkey-hair...

[Renee]

Back in 2008 US military invested 250 million dollars in a new entity to research regenerative medicine, since then 2 patents have been filed and there is a clinical trial going on for hair loss:


WASHINGTON (AFIS, April 18, 2008) - The Defense Department launched a five-year, Army-led cooperative effort to leverage cutting-edge medical technology to develop new ways to assist servicemembers who've suffered severe, disfiguring wounds during their wartime service.

The newly established Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, known by the acronym AFIRM, will serve as the military's operational agency for the effort, Dr. S. Ward Casscells, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference yesterday.

A key component of the initiative is to harness stem cell research and technology in finding innovative ways to use a patient's natural cellular structure to reconstruct new skin, muscles and tendons, and even ears, noses and fingers, Casscells said.

Just more than 900 U.S. servicemembers have undergone amputations of some kind due to injuries suffered in wartime service in Afghanistan or Iraq, Casscells said. Other troops have been badly burned or suffered spinal cord injuries or significant vision loss.

"Getting these people up to where they are functioning and reintegrated, employed, (and) able to help their families and be fully participating members of society" is the task at hand in which AFIRM will play a major role, Casscells said.

AFIRM will fall under the auspices of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command, based at Fort Detrick, Md., and it also will work in conjunction with U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, in San Antonio.

The Medical Research and Material Command is the Army's lead medical research, development and related-material acquisition agency. It comes under U.S. Army Medical Command, which is led by Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, the Army's surgeon general. Schoomaker accompanied Casscells at the news conference.

"The cells that we're talking about actually exist in our bodies today," Schoomaker pointed out. "We, even as adults, possess in our bodies small quantities of cells which have the potential, under the right kind of stimulation, to become any one of a number of different kinds of cells.

For example, Schoomaker said, the human body routinely regenerates bone marrow or liver cells.

AFIRM will have an overall budget of about $250 million for the initial five-year period, of which about $80 million will be provided by the Defense Department, Schoomaker said. Other program funding will be provided by the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Md., the Department of Veterans Affairs, and local public and private matching funding.

Rutgers University, in N.J.; Wake Forest University, in N.C.; and the University of Pittsburgh also will participate in the initiative.

Dr. Anthony Atala, a surgeon and director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest, also attended the news conference. Atala's current research keys on growing new human cells and tissue.

"All the parts of your body, tissues and organs, have a natural repository of cells that are ready to replicate when an injury occurs," Atala told reporters.

Medical technicians now can select cells from human donors and, through a series of scientific processes, can "regrow" new tissue, Atala said.

"Then, you can plant that (regenerated tissue) back into the same patient, thus avoiding rejection," Atala said.

Special techniques are being developed to employ regrown tissue in the fabrication of new muscles and tendons, Atala observed, or for the repair/replacement of damaged or missing extremities such as noses, ears and fingers.

Continued advancement in regenerative medicine would greatly benefit those servicemembers and veterans who've been severely scarred by war, Schoomaker said.

The three-star general cited animals like salamanders that can regrow lost tails or limbs. "Why can't a mammal do the same thing'" he asked.

[Renee]

http://www.afirm.mil

[Renee]

One of their focuses
Skin Injury Treatment
Prevent wound infection and afford for an environment conducive to skin regeneration
Prevent inflammation following burn injury and prevent subsequent injury progression
Speed generation of a viable wound bed and reduce reharvest time of autograft donor sites
Enhance the ability of autologous cells and tissues to cover larger surface areas
Improve the quality and function of skin substitutes for burn wound grafting (i.e. elastic and pigmented and possessing sweat glands and hair follicles) when autografts are not immediately available
Primarily prevent and secondarily manage scars

[Slam1523]

Back in 2008 US military invested 250 million dollars in a new entity to research regenerative medicine, since then 2 patents have been filed and there is a clinical trial going on for hair loss:


WASHINGTON (AFIS, April 18, 2008) - The Defense Department launched a five-year, Army-led cooperative effort to leverage cutting-edge medical technology to develop new ways to assist servicemembers who've suffered severe, disfiguring wounds during their wartime service.

The newly established Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, known by the acronym AFIRM, will serve as the military's operational agency for the effort, Dr. S. Ward Casscells, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference yesterday.

A key component of the initiative is to harness stem cell research and technology in finding innovative ways to use a patient's natural cellular structure to reconstruct new skin, muscles and tendons, and even ears, noses and fingers, Casscells said.

Just more than 900 U.S. servicemembers have undergone amputations of some kind due to injuries suffered in wartime service in Afghanistan or Iraq, Casscells said. Other troops have been badly burned or suffered spinal cord injuries or significant vision loss.

"Getting these people up to where they are functioning and reintegrated, employed, (and) able to help their families and be fully participating members of society" is the task at hand in which AFIRM will play a major role, Casscells said.

AFIRM will fall under the auspices of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command, based at Fort Detrick, Md., and it also will work in conjunction with U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, in San Antonio.

The Medical Research and Material Command is the Army's lead medical research, development and related-material acquisition agency. It comes under U.S. Army Medical Command, which is led by Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, the Army's surgeon general. Schoomaker accompanied Casscells at the news conference.

"The cells that we're talking about actually exist in our bodies today," Schoomaker pointed out. "We, even as adults, possess in our bodies small quantities of cells which have the potential, under the right kind of stimulation, to become any one of a number of different kinds of cells.

For example, Schoomaker said, the human body routinely regenerates bone marrow or liver cells.

AFIRM will have an overall budget of about $250 million for the initial five-year period, of which about $80 million will be provided by the Defense Department, Schoomaker said. Other program funding will be provided by the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Md., the Department of Veterans Affairs, and local public and private matching funding.

Rutgers University, in N.J.; Wake Forest University, in N.C.; and the University of Pittsburgh also will participate in the initiative.

Dr. Anthony Atala, a surgeon and director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest, also attended the news conference. Atala's current research keys on growing new human cells and tissue.

"All the parts of your body, tissues and organs, have a natural repository of cells that are ready to replicate when an injury occurs," Atala told reporters.

Medical technicians now can select cells from human donors and, through a series of scientific processes, can "regrow" new tissue, Atala said.

"Then, you can plant that (regenerated tissue) back into the same patient, thus avoiding rejection," Atala said.

Special techniques are being developed to employ regrown tissue in the fabrication of new muscles and tendons, Atala observed, or for the repair/replacement of damaged or missing extremities such as noses, ears and fingers.

Continued advancement in regenerative medicine would greatly benefit those servicemembers and veterans who've been severely scarred by war, Schoomaker said.

The three-star general cited animals like salamanders that can regrow lost tails or limbs. "Why can't a mammal do the same thing'" he asked.

Bottom line is sure money is invested into concepts, but the main focus obviously isn't hair, and you don't know just how much of that investment is going towards hair. They certainly aren't going to throw "unlimited amounts of money" at hair until they get it right... Look at our investments in companies like solyndra... What came from it? Did they keep it afloat until it panned out? All I'm saying is be reasonable, we can hope but realistically this doesn't mean substantially more than any of the claims other large companies have made regarding their hair research...

[Renee]

I disagree with your comment. Why are you so negative? The army wants to help soldiers who have burned skin problems returning from war. Hair follicles is a essential to have normal looking skin.

[hellouser]

I disagree with your comment. Why are you so negative? The army wants to help soldiers who have burned skin problems returning from war. Hair follicles is a essential to have normal looking skin.

Or even hiding the scars if they're on the head.

[gion]

Spot on, Renee, and I am not even an american! Improved hope wont kill you, especially in this rare case of no scam suspicions. May they at least improve the lives of their soldiers!

[lacazette]

good Renee
AFIRM will have an overall budget of about $250 million for the initial five-year period, of which about $80 million will be provided by the Defense Department, Schoomaker said. Other program funding will be provided by the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Md., the Department of Veterans Affairs, and local public and private matching funding.
Rutgers University, in N.J.; Wake Forest University, in N.C.; and the University of Pittsburgh also will participate in the initiative.

Wake Forest

@Slam

they already throw 'unlimited money', not for hair but to find that new functional skin. And as I mentioned the crucial point they were missed for that, is the follicle neogenesis that lead to functional HF
(and so that logically lead also to hairloss solutions)