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WAY-316606 Baldness Cure From Osteoporosis Drug?
WAY-316606 Baldness Cure?
WAY-316606 is a compound that can be found in an osteoporosis drug used to treat brittle bones. Recently scientists at University of Manchester has published exciting news about using WAY-316606 as a treatment for hair loss. The research data looked so impressive on paper that some even suggest that this could be the baldness cure we have been hoping for.
WAY-316606 Baldness Cure Study
WAY-316606 baldness cure study was funded by Giuliani Pharmacy in Milan, Italy and led by Nathan Hawkshaw PhD, Department of Dermatology at University of Manchester. Results, supporting documentation and detailed methodologies of the study is published in Public Library of Science. Other researchers who also collaborated on this study include Jonathan A. Hardman and Ralf Paus (University of Manchester), Iain S. Haslam (University of Huddersfield, UK), Dr. Asim Shahmalak (Crown Clinic, Manchester, UK); Amos Gilhar (Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel) and Xinhong Lim (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore).
Full paper on WAY-316606 can be found at PLOS https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2003705#sec002
Hair Growth Study: from Cyclosporine A to WAY-316606
There are quite a few drugs on the market that are known to be able to cause hair growth as one of the side effects. As a matter of fact, both minoxidl and finasteride were originally intended for the treatment of medical conditions that had nothing to do with hair loss. It was only after discovering the excessive hair growth side effects of minoxidil and finasteride that these two drugs were later developed into FDA approved hair loss medications.
Similary, the same thing happened when Dr. Nathan Hawkshaw and his colleagues were looking for novel mechanisms to solve the age old problem of hair loss or androgenetic alopecia.
At first, the focus was on a drug called Cyclosporine A (CsA) which is known to carry a side effect of excessive hair growth in patients. Cyclosporine A (CsA) is an immunosuppressive drug that is mostly used for organ transplant patients to minimize the possibility of rejection and autoimmune diseases.
Dr. Nathan Hawkshaw and his team went on and through their rigorous experiments discovered that Cyclosporine A generates hair growth by suppressing SFRP1, a protein that inhibits hair growth.
This is good news except that CsA has a very profile which makes it unsuitable for further development as a hair regrowth product.
Cyclosporine A - Toxicity Profile
As mentioned previously, Cyclosporine A (CsA) is an immunosuppressive drug that is used for organ transplant patients to minimize the possibility of rejection. This drug works by reducing the patient's own natural defenses. When a patient's immune system is subdued, their body will be less likely to recognize the transplanted organ as "foreign" and begin attacking it much like your body is fighting to attack a cold virus. Cyclosporine A diminishes our body's defense mechanisms so that the foreign organ will have a better chance of surviving in the new host.
Cyclosporine A has to be used with caution. Patients who are on Cyclosporine A are subject to regular blood tests monitoring to ensure that the drug does not cause toxicity in the patient's body.
Due to all these reasons, Cyclosporine A is not suitable for further development.
WAY-316606 Hair Regrowth Mechanisms Outperform CsA
Cyclosporine A was out of the question. But one door closes, another door opens.
The real excitement came when Dr. Hawkshaw and his team stumbled upon WAY-316606, a drug that was originally developed for osteoporosis. It was found that WAY-316606 can generate hair growth in much the same way as CsA does but without the toxic side effects. As a matter of fact, it was established in the trials that WAY-316606 performed even better than CsA in generating hair growth.
According to the article in PLOS: "human hair follicles were treated ex vivo with WAY-316606 for 6 days, and hair shaft production was measured. WAY-316606 significantly increased hair shaft production (elongation) as early as 2 days following treatment, even faster than CsA-induced hair shaft elongation ex vivo ... WAY-316606 treatment rapidly and significantly up-regulated protein expression of the hair shaft keratin K85 ... enhances human hair shaft production, and do so more effectively than CsA".
WAY-316606 Hair Growth Trial Using Human Hair Follicles
Dr. Hawkshaw's trial carried a lot of weight, clinical relevancy and excitement in the world of hair research because the experiments were done using real human hair follicles. This was made possible by the generosity of Dr. Asim Shahmalak and his hair transplant patients from Crown Clinic, Manchester UK who donated precious scalp follicles for the experiment. Over 40 patients were involved in the cause. This is not a mouse model we are talking about here.
WAY-316606 Trial News
The next logical step for WAY-316606 is human trial. There has been rumors that Giuliani Pharma in Italy will proceed with human hair regrowth trials. However, at the time when this is published, we have contacted Giuliani Pharma and nothing is confirmed yet. We are doubtful if human trial is indeed underway.
Formulate Your Own WAY-316606 Hair Growth Treatment?
For those dare devils out there who think that since the compound is already available in osteoporosis drugs, why not compound a topical formula on your own and use it for hair loss? Well, theoretically that can be done. Presently, the market price for WAY-316606 is $215 for 10 mg. You can formulate a topical solution using DMSO as solvent. However, as one of the WAY-316606 suppliers puts it: "We are aware of a study in PLOS Biology where WAY-316606 was found to stimulate hair follicle growth. Please note that WAY-316606 is for laboratory research use only, and that we will only sell to established scientific businesses and institutes."
What's Next? Other Options?
WAY-316606 is exciting news for sure. However, there is stil no word when a human trial for hair loss will begin. Even if all goes well, it will probably be 5 years before we see a viable WAY-316606 hair loss treatment available on the market.
If you want to learn more about WAY-316606 or have questions about hair restoration in general, please contact Dr. Cole's hair clinic at consults@forhair.com or visit Dr. Cole Hair Clinic. All questions will be answered. No cost, no fee. Just good honest information.
This editorial is created in collaboration with Dr. Cole hair clinic. Dr. Cole is a top ranked sponsoring clinic on HairSite with over 13 years of successful patient records.
For those who are losing your hair and want an effective treatment now, there are indeed cutting edge treatment options available from Dr. Cole's clinic such as Platelet Rich Plasma cell based hair therapy, Acell cell regeneration matrix as well as minimally invasive FUE hair transplants. Dr. Cole is also a top hair transplant repair surgeon in the US and among the first in the world to perform body hair transplants BHT for his patients.
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