JAK Research, Shiseido Research: Weekly Thoughts 1/12/16

Hello Everybody,

Welcome to another edition of Weekly Thoughts. This weeks’s round-up includes new tidbits from Angela Christiano, Brian Urlacher’s hair transplant, Shiseido’s plethora of reseachers, and an Ultimate Guide update.

Dr. Christiano Sheds Light on JAK Inhibitors

Angela Christiano recently did an audio interview about her research on JAK inhibitors for hair growth. The interview covers most of the information we’ve already heard, and also brings forth a few insightful comments from the researcher. The question that everyone still wants to know is if these JAK inhibitors could be useful for common hair loss, or “androgenic alopecia.” Her answer was: maybe. She did mention that these JAK drugs were the most efficient thing she has seen to turn on the hair follicle growth cycle in a long time, which is promising.  Dr. Christiano explained that at this point of the research it is necessary for a company with resources to move the JAK research into clinical trials. However, she made it clear that it would be fairly quick and easy to determine whether these JAK drugs were effective for hair growth during initial trials, making them a safer investment. I personally believe that a keen company, perhaps a company like Kythera, will be knocking at her door soon enough to inquire about the JAK inhibitor work. One important tidbit that I picked up from the interview is, apparently, the JAK drugs need to be at a high local concentration around the hair follicle to have an effect on its growth. This could mean that a topical solution with enhanced permeability would be a great choice for delivery.

Brian Urlacher Restored His Hair

You might have noticed on your favorite news website or ESPN over the past week, Brian Urlacher had a hair transplant. It looks good. I’m usually not too interested in celebrities getting hair transplants, because “hey who cares?” However, I wanted to include it in this post because I felt that a lot of people might stumble onto this site while searching for information on his transplant. I believe that those people will be quite pleased to come across the information they find on this website.

Shiseido is a Major Player

Most people are aware that Shiseido is big-brothering Replicel’s RCH-01 technology into the Japanese market for expedited approval. Some also know that Shiseido has their own in-house researchers, such as Dr. Manabu Ohyama, who are working on creating hair regeneration through iPS cells. However, up until now I have not heard talk about Shiseido’s research collaboration with Harvard CBRC. It turns out Shiseido is also working with Dr. David Fisher’s lab as another outlet for hair and skin technology discovery. That’s three major avenues, with the possibility of more that we don’t know about. Be thankful for Shiseido, they have put a lot of focus into solving the thing we all pray for.

Two Additions to the Ultimate Guide

I’ve created two new spots on the Ultimate Guide to Hair Regeneration for the companies Follica and the IBN Singapore. It’s a promising sign that we have 16 entries on the world’s best hair regeneration list.