Drug companies will stop a cure hitting the market

[baldy1990]

hairtransplant companies wont let it either

[baldesswonder]

You guys need to chill out.

Even if this is the case, I think it's in the interest of Drug companies to release a hairloss product which is both safe to use and effective.

If propecia for example was 100% safe; I would be taking it right now. Drug companies if ANYTHING are not properly tapping into a huge market. Thus losing revenue.

propecia is ok if you grind up the tablets and throw in your shampoo. I haven't had side effects systemically from doing that.

[akai]

Even if there isn't a "cure" there will be something like CB that will block DHT to the follicles and not cause side effects. That would be good enough for a lot of people. Growing back a new full head of hair after becoming completely bald is a different story. It's weird how far science has come in regards to technology and medicine but somehow hair loss hasn't been solved yet.

[yeahyeahyeah]

You guys need to chill out.

Even if this is the case, I think it's in the interest of Drug companies to release a hairloss product which is both safe to use and effective.

If propecia for example was 100% safe; I would be taking it right now. Drug companies if ANYTHING are not properly tapping into a huge market. Thus losing revenue.

[mlao]

First off, he is not infotainment. CNN is an example of infotainment, Bill Maher is 1 hour per week of political debate interspersed with comedy and entertainment. The debate is serious and doesn't have to be cut into 15 second chunks that are repeated word for word by someone else on another channel. Therefore I can't think of a worse example of infotainment than Maher. I think you need to check your definition.

infotainment |ˌinfōˈtānmənt|
noun
broadcast material that is intended both to entertain and to inform.
Would HBO even bother with a show that did not meet this criteria?

I'm not here to get in an argument It's a case of semantics I suppose.
I watch him regularly and find a lot of what he and his guests say as more of an opinion than actual fact.
And if CNN is infotainment explain Fareed Zakeria and Sanjy Gupta to me.
I can't imagine the latter not doing a segment on a cure for hair loss if it were real.
I've had type 1 diabetes for over 25 years so I know a little about chronic health conditions. I follow the JDFs information on research closely and I'm on their participant list for any new trial (drug or surgical). Sadly I get called rarely because there just isn't anything as effective or as affordable as multiple daily insulin injections yet.
I'm not trying to defend drug companies. They are beholden to stockholders and the money they spend to develop a new drug versus what they actually deliver is outrageous. If insurance doesn't pay for it they don't care.
Lets hope Histogen and Aderans who seem to work outside of big pharma can change that. I for one would have no problem if I had to go for yearly injections to maintain my hair. It would be a cakewalk compared to testing my glucose levels 7 times a day and then having to give myself an injection.

[CurlyBird]

Agreed, if you are getting your current events from Bill Maher it's infotainment
not hard news.

First off, he is not infotainment. CNN is an example of infotainment, Bill Maher is 1 hour per week of political debate interspersed with comedy and entertainment. The debate is serious and doesn't have to be cut into 15 second chunks that are repeated word for word by someone else on another channel. Therefore I can't think of a worse example of infotainment than Maher. I think you need to check your definitions.

Secondly, he is completely correct in what he says. The pharmaceutical industry doesn't make billions by curing people because soon they'd have nothing left to sell anyone. Antihistamines, antipsychotics, statins and anti-androgens alike cure nothing. That's why you have to keep taking them forever, they are merely covering up or mitigating a problem. Antibiotics cure infections but that's about it. Cancer treatments don't really cure cancer as a small number of cells often remain to start a new tumor. Etc.

[gmonasco]

Why wasn't this obvious from the beginning: hey let's compare genetic makeups of hairy scalps vs bald scalps! Why wasn't such obvious study done in the 80's??

Because the technology to perform that kind of genetic analysis wasn't available thirty years ago. It's not as easy as you seem to think.

[2020]

speaking of this:

why the **** do we only know about this PGD2 stuff just now?? Why wasn't this obvious from the beginning: hey let's compare genetic makeups of hairy scalps vs bald scalps! Why wasn't such obvious study done in the 80's??

ALSO: the patent for TREATING HAIR LOSS BY BLOCKING PGD2 was filed by cotsarelis in 2007!

http://www.google.com/patents/US20110021599

^ why hasn't anything come out of it already??

I changed my mind. Scientists can't possibly be that dumb. Something is going on. Baldness should have been cured already.

[mlao]

I agree that the efficacy is not great but I think most drug companies look at a drugs success in terms of it being covered by insurance.
A drug that addresses a cosmetic issue is usually not covered by most insurance plans. So for a company to bring a hair loss drug to market it would have to be demonstrably better than what we have now. That would be the only way someone would fork over between eighty to one fifty per month.
I would love to see Histogen or Aderans succeed to a point where the giant pharmaceutical companies end up kicking themselves in the ass.
I can only hope!

[25 going on 65]

If you get your current events from any kind of cable TV in the USA, it's probably infotainment.
But we have a McDonald's on every block. I'll take that over a free press any day.

Really though, I'll repeat what I said before... finasteride and minoxidil are commercial flops. Significantly improved treatments would make more in the short term than fin and minox would make in the next decade.
Seems to me like the profit motive is pushing these companies to release better treatments ASAP, not block them.

[mlao]

Given Maher's history of loony comments on the subject, I wouldn't be citing him as a source for any medical-related topic:

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-mahe...uses-audience/

Agreed, if you are getting your current events from Bill Maher it's infotainment
not hard news.

[gmonasco]

I have to say I agree with the OP. As Bill Maher said there's no money in healthy people and no money in dead people. The money is in the middle: people who are alive, sort of.

Given Maher's history of loony comments on the subject, I wouldn't be citing him as a source for any medical-related topic:

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-mahers-medical-meltdown-turns-off-guests-confuses-audience/

[CurlyBird]

I have to say I agree with the OP. As Bill Maher said there's no money in healthy people and no money in dead people. The money is in the middle: people who are alive, sort of.

Big Pharma makes its money by giving out expensive drugs over long periods of time that mitigate symptoms but mostly do not cure you. Some drugs cure you but most do not, they are merely a band aid you have to reapply every day. They're not interested in a cure, they're interested in sales.

That said, who knows what will emerge over the next 10 years.

[jman91]

Right, because it's not possable that Spencer could ever do (or want to do) anything other than host a radio show about hair loss for the rest of his life.

i doubt that spencer has any intention other than to help hair loss sufferers

joe on the other hand, is a lunatic and should probably be institutionalized

[Winston]

What ever happened to that new discovery not too long ago, about the excessive amount of Prostaglandin D2 in the scalp. Wasn't a company already deriving a drug for that, which is intended for asthma which is suppose to be available in like 3 months. There needs to be more talk about Prostaglandin D2 in this forum. It might be like a 90% percent hair growth. I think Spencer and Joe might know more about this and are not telling us all the truth. If this happens to be the true cure, then Spencer would be out of a job.

I'm quite sure Spencer doesn't have to be concerned about losing his “job.” He’s obviously an extremely smart and capable person who’s had tremendous success. I think he’ll be just fine when the cure arrives.