follicept - what's this?

[nameless]

“There have been few significant advancements in nearly 40 years because industry couldn’t deliver the known ideal compound, IGF-1, safely and locally across the skin. We are excited to announce that with Follicept™, the wait is finally over,” declared Hsu.

Wow, for a scientist to declare "the wait is finally over" is pretty significant language. To be honest, I am surprised the Dr. Hsu was willing to make this statement as well as other lofty assertions on the Follicept website. The only thing I can say is that I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and hope that there is very strong reason to be making such assertions, even without human results.

On another note, I just read that this will be Prometheon's first product release, just before their 2018 target for the insulin patch. IMO they have about as much on the line as possible with this Follicept product. If it is determined to be a scam or sham or not effective, something tells me they will have a lot more difficult time fundraising for their future products. IF however it IS successful, they will probably have an unlimited line of investors for Follicept as well as their future products.

They won't have a problem getting funding in the future unless they intentionally fabricate positive results. There are 3 possibilities:

1. If their new technology is effective that will get them a lot of respect.

2. If their new technology is ineffective and they admit it they will not suffer harm to their reputation.

3. If their technology is ineffective but they fabricate the false idea that the technology is effective then that could hurt them.

As long as they tell the truth then their reputation will be safe. All companies investigate treatment candidates that end up not working. The thing is to just state the facts and no harm will be done. A company only suffers harm to its' reputation when it doesn't tell the truth.

I think that Follicept will likely tell the truth about their hair growth results. They are looking at other treatments for other conditions. They don't want to screw up their rep by reporting false positives.

I kind of trust them to tell the truth. If they report good success with their hair treatment the world will be paying attention to whether or not the treatment lives up to the reported results. Follicept understands this. I think they will tell the truth one way or the other.

[nameless]

but how do you account for the fact this is a company that WANTS badly primarily to release another product for diabetes in the future.... if that was indeed their goal, wouldn't it be inherently illogical to 'scam' a sizable population. There brand and name will be tarnished all over the web..... doesn't make sense

You have a very good point.

[nameless]

It just works perfectly for them..

They come on here early, claim they have a breakthrough vehicle and they don't have to go through FDA testing...make friends with all you guys and get you to trust them by saying they won't take money until they "know" it works, they come up with a product name and hype it all up..now, they will post good results and release a "special batch" to a "limited" group of people in the fall...

come on people, I know we're all suffering, but this is a scam.

It bothers me a lot that they're doing the study on company staff. I think the study should be done on test subjects with no relation to the company. Imagine if Merk had done its' propecia testing on Merck employees.

That having been said it seems like a big stretch to say that this company (follicept) is going to produce false positive results (scam) so they can make 10K to 15K. It just isn't worth the damage their reputation would suffer. This company has plans to bring other treatment technologies into the marketplace so it needs to protect its' reputation. I think the likelihood is that they will report true results. I also think that there's a chance that the technology might work. The thing is that different delivery methods can cause the active ingredient to hang in the target area longer. When treatments are injected into tissue the active ingredient often dissipates or migrates out of the target area rapidly. If their technology can cause the active ingredient to hang in the target area intact longer than injection can that could make a big difference in the outcome.

[nameless]

Devon,
First thanks again for your effort.
I have some thought recently that I'd like to share with you, about your delivery technique for the protein. From what I understand, it is a common vehicle which works for different kinds of large proteins, not just analogs of insulin right? If that is the case, you can consider many other growth factors, which also have been shown to have positive effects on hair growth, like VEGF, KGF, etc. I know some bogus products claimed to have used these things, but it's possible they are either totally fake or using alcohol as vehicle. If you are confident that your technique is the key to strike the target, you can really consider adding more ingredients and put them into real use. I know you guys were always dealing with insulin analogs, but it is not obligatory to stick to that when you are working on the problem of mpb.

+ 1

I was thinking the same thing. You see the way nature does it is that the follicles are continuously being exposed to the growth factors emanating from the Adipose Derived Stem Cells. You can get these same growth factors injected into your head by Histogen or a potion called AAPE. But you have to inject these treatments frequently (at least in the beginning) to mimic how nature exposes follicles to these growth factors continuously. But if you could make a topical delivery system that got the growth factors into the hair follicle better and kept the growth factors in the follicles for a good amount of time then such a topical would be better than injections. It's all about getting the active ingredient into the target tissue and getting the active ingredient to stay intact and STAY IN THE TARGET TISSUE longer. When substances are injected they can rapidly dissipate or migrate out of the target tissue. What the situation calls for is a delivery system that will get the active ingredients to the target area, keep the active ingredients intact, and keep the active ingredients in the target area longer.

[breakbot]

Come on guy. Come back when the results will be published. So you can give your point of view. I don't care your bla bla bla bla too. Let's give Follicept a chance to show us their results. Thanks !

I don't need to come back and say i told you that this won't work. They don't know what they are doing.
They just know that it works better than minoxidil.
I don't need to come back because i'm sure the results will be amazing as neogenic and cg.
There are many companies working 10 years with real trials like allergan, histogen, cosmo, and these guys will find a cure in 12 days. Wow amazing! Maybe these guys should talk with histogen to make a topical coktail.

[nameless]

I don't need to come back and say i told you that this won't work. They don't know what they are doing.
They just know that it works better than minoxidil.
I don't need to come back because i'm sure the results will be amazing as neogenic and cg.
There are many companies working 10 years with real trials like allergan, histogen, cosmo, and these guys will find a cure in 12 days. Wow amazing! Maybe these guys should talk with histogen to make a topical coktail.

I agree that Devon should talk with Histogen to make a topical ****tail or better still
Devon should look at the possibility of putting AAPE into his delivery vehicle. If he could put AAPE into his delivery vehicle then you could get AAPE to your follicles every day in a topical solution and AAPE is already FDA approved.

[jamesst11]

O.K. first off, I would like to say that I myself have a masters in molecular and cellular bio, have published research and worked in a lab for a couple years... doing research, in many respects, similar in protocol to the stuff "follicept" is doing... IT MAKES NO SENSE that this would be a scam, not at all. Is it possible that they prematurely think they are onto a breakthrough that may end up being nothing, yes. But they admit the possibility of negative results. Once again, IT MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE, for a reputable laboratory, one not even involved primarily in hair loss science, to come onto a forum and day after day try to manipulate people into buying some snake oil product. I can't believe this thread is 62 pages long and most of the posts have accomplished nothing, but racket back and forth about whether this will work or not. Give it a break. YOU DON'T KNOW THIS WON'T WORK. YOU DON'T KNOW THIS WILL WORK. WAIT AND SEE. As much research as y'all have done, YOU ARE NOT TRAINED SCIENTISTS. One thing I have learned working in the lab, is that in a given protocol, a single microliter off and your results may fail. You don't know specifically what their formulations are and the effect on the cells it will have.

[Justinian]

There are many companies working 10 years with real trials like allergan, histogen, cosmo, and these guys will find a cure in 12 days. Wow amazing! Maybe these guys should talk with histogen to make a topical coktail.

Sure, the IGF-1 part of it may have happened in "12 days" but the development of their delivery gel certainly took much longer than that.

[breakbot]

Sure, the IGF-1 part of it may have happened in "12 days" but the development of their delivery gel certainly took much longer than that.

This is not about delivery technologies. Igf1 is not enough for a decent regrowth.
This thread is full of nonsense.

[stayhopeful]

This is not about delivery technologies. Igf1 is not enough for a decent regrowth.
This thread is full of nonsense.

what are your credentials breakbot? are you a science professor at harvard? oh, youre not? I didnt think so.