CRISPR/Cas9 Therapy For Androgenic Alopecia: Moogene Medi

Moogene Medi of South Korea is the first company to formally introduce a CRISPR-based gene editing hair loss therapy to the world. 

Description Of CRISPR Therapy For AGA

Moogene has developed a microbubble-nanoliposomal delivery system to get gene editing particles directly into the dermal papilla cells of the hair follicle. First, a sequence of sgRNA or “guide RNA” is created to target the SRD5A2 gene; this is the gene responsible for creating the 5AR enzyme which converts testosterone into DHT, the known core driver of androgenic alopecia. The combination of Cas9/sgRNA, which is designed to suppress the SRD5A2 gene, is then encapsulated into nanoliposomes which are attached to microbubbles (see image below for depiction) within a topical solution. The topical solution is then applied to skin containing hair follicles (it has so far been tested on mice, and next will be tested on non-human primates). Then, ultrasound of a specific frequency is applied to the skin which bursts the microbubbles and creates momentary cavities in the surface of the skin to transport the nanoliposomes through the epidermis and into the dermal papilla bulb/cells. The Cas9 protein acts as the scissors to cut into the native RNA and allows the crafted sgRNA sequence to suppress the 5AR gene within the dermal papilla. The hair follicle cells, thus, are modified to be theoretically genetically exempt from DHT interference.

Moogene Microbubble Containing Nanoliposomes Around Outer Edge

Clinical Development Timeline

Currently, Moogene’s therapy for androgenic alopecia is the second highest priority at the company and only behind a treatment for colon cancer. Also, both of those programs will be worked on simultaneously which is good news. The next development step for Moogene’s AGA therapy is to complete a toxicity study for the FDA. This study will likely be done on a non-human primate species and is a measure taken to ensure that the Cas9/sgRNA particles do not migrate and produce toxic results in other areas of the body. To prove this in a toxicity study, tissue assays are taken from various organs and analyzed for traces of the Cas9/sgRNA therapy. I am told by Moogene co-founder Emmanuel Hui that if successful in the toxicity study, this treatment could move into human trials in about 2 years time. I also received from Emmanuel a PDF to share with the audience which contains a summary of Moogene’s peer-reviewed study which appeared in the February 2020 edition of the Biomaterials journal. 

Partnerships For The Ultrasound-Microbubble Technology

Hui also tells me that his company is interested in partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies that could accelerate the development of their AGA gene editing therapy. In addition to the gene editing therapy, Moogene also has filed patents for the delivery of more common drugs to treat hair loss via their ultrasound-microbubble technology. For example, molecules like finasteride or dutasteride could be delivered more effectively into the dermal papilla cell region of the hair follicle with this technology. At this time, Moogene is very happy to connect with any companies who would be interested in developing their technology with approved hair loss drugs. 

Discussion

Since the inception of gene editing therapies, the idea of a gene therapy for hair loss has been tossed around. People theorized it could be an ideal way to create a mostly “full-proof” solution to hair loss. Although there is certainly much important testing to be done and years ahead, the fact that an established therapy candidate like Moogene’s sits in a pipeline is an accomplishment. In my discussion with Emmanuel Hui, co-founder of this technology, he was keen to point out that suppressing a gene responsible for DHT within the DP cells has potential to be much more efficacious than DHT blockers which work systemically. Thus, he also thought the potential for regrowth in dormant scalp areas from gene therapy is much higher than with finasteride, for example, which has shown the ability to regrow some lost hair for many of its users. Finally, to the question of how long this treatment will last or how many times it needs to be applied if it does work, Hui did not want to go on record with a specific prediction, he does describe the treatment as long-lasting and based on the impression I got, this audience  would be pleased about the potential frequency of treatments needed.

Thanks to Emmanuel Hui for taking the time to share with us and Best Wishes to the Moogene company as they develop this first-of-its-kind gene therapy for hair growth.

177 Comments

  1. Follicle Thought on November 29, 2020 at 6:08 pm

    What are people’s thoughts on the peer-reviewed study or other thoughts on Moogene?



    • Robert on November 29, 2020 at 6:39 pm

      Why does it take so long to market. Company should do a Fast track like the President of the USA did with Covid 19 Vaccine..Ask the President for help.



      • michael on November 29, 2020 at 7:21 pm

        Yes they should fast track something by now but don’t worry it will be available in the next 3-5 years, Lol I’ve been hearing that for the last forty years, but nothing ever seems to materialize



        • Follicle Thought on November 29, 2020 at 7:40 pm

          40 years is a long time, but the trend is guaranteed to change. ?



          • H. on November 29, 2020 at 11:31 pm

            Could be 40 more years though before it does…



            • Follicle Thought on November 30, 2020 at 9:11 am

              Does not seem too likely, my friend.



          • H. on November 30, 2020 at 7:09 pm

            You mean like an effective “cure” or a treatment that somewhat freezes your Norwood in time. I can totally see the ladder soon but getting hair back I dont necessarily see that. All our players are either experiencing issues or keep setting dates back.



            • Follicle Thought on November 30, 2020 at 8:15 pm

              I think a full on cure could take some time but we have a great opportunity with Histogen HSC results coming soon. If it works as in the past we could have something that can be injected every couple of months and improve a head of hair alongside new topicals like Breezula, SM04554, or the Triple Hair formula which is pretty impressive. Throw in some DP injections from HairClone if they show up as well. It will take cloning to get back a significant amount of hair for most people though I believe.



          • H. on December 2, 2020 at 1:10 am

            Ya unfortunately.



    • aksdn2i903 on December 13, 2020 at 2:37 am

      I read the study, and it seems low probability that this will work due to the side effect risk of other organs. From their study “However, systemic distribution of
      genetic elements has been reported to exhibit severe side effects due to
      non-target organs being unnecessarily affected.”



    • W. on January 20, 2021 at 4:24 am

      I am watching my 19 year old son’s hair thin like mine did 30 years ago. It is torture and brings me to tears.



      • Diego on September 11, 2021 at 9:54 am

        Chill out, man. It’s not like he has cancer, gee…



    • sal on October 4, 2021 at 10:44 pm

      can you please give us update on this type of treatment for hairloss



      • Follicle Thought on October 5, 2021 at 9:22 am

        When there is one I will.



    • Kshitej Sonkar on January 5, 2022 at 9:56 pm

      When will this be available in the market?



      • Follicle Thought on January 6, 2022 at 10:59 am

        Perhaps within the next 8 years?



  2. C on November 29, 2020 at 6:42 pm

    It sounds interesting as far as my comprehension goes. Will the finished product be in the form of a topical solution? If so, how would it be any different from what is already commercially available?



    • Follicle Thought on November 29, 2020 at 7:10 pm

      The finished treatment would be a topical solution combined with ultrasound. It would be an in-office procedure.



  3. Ahmed bekeer on November 29, 2020 at 6:43 pm

    This is the beginning of the dream about gene therapy for hair loss and baldness. As long as we were waiting
    Have the clinical trials been completed?
    How much does such a treatment cost?



    • Follicle Thought on November 29, 2020 at 7:11 pm

      Human trials are estimated at 2 years out, per the article. No idea on price yet, but that will not be important for several years. Thanks for your continued participation Ahmed.



  4. Omar on November 29, 2020 at 6:53 pm

    I think the only real cure for alopecia and any other aging problems is gene therapy, other therapys will only work on the surface of the issue and work as a patch, but gene therapy is the key.



  5. Fgsfds on November 29, 2020 at 7:50 pm

    So they do nothing about the androgen receptors in the follicles, and your hair will still get killed by DHT created elsewhere in the body and transported through the blood. How embarrassing.



  6. GG on November 30, 2020 at 2:35 am

    For me Takashi seems as the best option. His approach will be the holy grail as you have to undergo the procedure only once and NW1 again. I know it’ll be costly initially, although I am not taking this into account. The price will become affordable over time. The most significant is to have smth which will enable us to do it once and then enjoy with our life.
    it’s funny though that in 2020 we still face this problem 🙂 LOL



  7. hopefull on November 30, 2020 at 2:47 am

    Not sure if it’s been said on this site yet, but it looks like Follica’s phase 3 is now expected to begin in 2021. It says so on the puretech site. So it got pushed back. Maybe this means they’ll have to wait until 2022 to actually go to market.



  8. Alan J on November 30, 2020 at 3:02 am

    Thanks for this. Another potentially exciting development. The more companies across the Globe that are working on cures, the better. I have been waiting 35 years (sadly neither Minox nor Fin work for me). I know some people here love to be pessimistic about time lines etc., but frankly, things have never looked so positive. As someone whose horseshoe hair is quite thin, the ability to modify any of my remaining follicles in the context of some sort of cloning would be very welcome. Clearly, Crispr , mRNA etc. are set to transform the World in the next few years across many different areas of medicine (needless to say, there are many conditions that are far worse than balding…even so….). Science and reason come to the rescue again. Sadly, praying to any number of gods in any number of churches and temples will never do the trick. I wish it were that simple…not to mention, cheap (!) Thanks again for brightening my day a little.



    • Follicle Thought on November 30, 2020 at 9:13 am

      Thanks Alan J for the comment, and p.s. ya never know 😉



  9. Nik on November 30, 2020 at 7:27 am

    Finally, a CRISPR-based gene therapy. This is the only definitive solution. Increasing blood flow, nuking systemic DHT, and hair transplants are all delaying the inevitable. This will certainly take a lot of time to develop given the complex nature of the intervention, but it’s the only solution. If Moogene doesn’t follow through, another company will. If this company in particular is legit, waiting for “another 5-10 years” might be worth it. I do hope, however I strongly doubt, that hair cloning does materialize in the near future as well. In the meantime, try different doses/application methods using fin. It’s the only thing that works. Biotin won’t do anything for you unless youre deficient (which you most likely aren’t). Laser therapy, PRP, and friends are the biggest joke of the century. Minoxidil will tell you “for best results use with fin” for a reason. A hair transplant surgeon will tell you “for best results use fin” for a reason. Using ketoconazole for AGA is like giving a cancer patient a multivitamin to strengthen their immune system. It’s simple. If you have hair, work with fin. If you don’t, transplant + fin. If your body doesn’t tolerate fin, minoxidil is the only other thing that’s better than nothing. The solution is coming, just be smart with where you invest your time and money. Hope this helps.



    • Rob on November 30, 2020 at 11:58 am

      PPR and Stem cell are a rip off. Tried it and nothing happened. Don’t fall for this con game..



    • zavon on August 26, 2021 at 7:27 am

      can you elaborate on ketaconazole part analogy ? How does it help in AGA?



  10. Sonic on November 30, 2020 at 1:11 pm

    Gene Editing Therapy is definitely something I’m excited about because it is next Gen technology that unlike many other treatments in the pipeline, has the potential to really work. Would love to see this technology progress and evolve in the hair restoration industry.

    As someone mentioned earlier, it would be great if treatments could come to market far sooner. That was an excellent point mentioned as to how the COVID-19 vaccines are being fast tracked to market in record times. This point needs to be emphasized more.

    Companies should really try getting behind trying to follow the same method of fast tracking their treatments to market. If they can fast track COVID-19 treatments, they should allow other treatments to be fast tracked too!



    • Rob on November 30, 2020 at 1:16 pm

      Maybe we should as a collective group petition the President to fast track this to bring it to market faster. The President himself take Propecia. Rogine to save his hair. So he may be interested in this research.



      • Sonic on November 30, 2020 at 1:41 pm

        Rob, that is an excellent idea! Can you imagine how many people from the hairloss community internationally would sign a petition to fast track treatments! Pre-Covid-19, people could say they need to follow all the trials. But now thanks to COVID-19, every single country is more than willing to fast track a treatment. So we could ride that boat too! I feel like a gateway has opened that we need to press forward on. I also like the angle you mentioned regarding this hairloss potential cure being beneficial to the president himself. Exactly what we need, personal interest.

        I personally am fully behind supporting this petition.



        • Follicle Thought on November 30, 2020 at 5:59 pm

          Thanks all for the positive feedback. This treatment can come out sooner if Moogene finds an interested partner as well, this is part of the intention of the article to help Moogene connect with a larger partner to put more resources into moving this treatment along.



          • Jazz on December 3, 2020 at 9:19 pm

            Hey FT. Another user here commented that all this does is prevent 5AR activity in the DP which is great. But if the DHT moves throughout the body and goes to the HF and bonds to the AR then it’s still going to cause the gene expression.

            Can you please please for the love of life please get back in touch with these guys and get them to think about this properly? Maybe gene edit the AR in the DP to reject Androgens all together? Or even better modify the AR to become an ER!! Estrogen Receptor!!

            The users comment makes sense. If DHT produced elsewhere still bonds to AR at follicle then 5AR inactivation at follicle is good but not serious mitigation like AR to ER editing!!

            Plz reply, let me know you got this message, they need to think of this!!



          • Jazz on December 4, 2020 at 12:38 am

            Adding to my previous comment FT; maybe you can see if they can edit the genes on the scalp to express themselves like the hair follicles on facial hair… or any thick and dense area of the body!! When exposed to DHT!! This is too exciting and they must look at multiple pathways as I have suggested. Incase 1 does not turn out to be as expected!!



            • Sonic on December 4, 2020 at 9:54 am

              Hi Everyone and admin, PLEASE PAY ATTENTION to Jazz’s two comments. I actually think its BRILLIANT and it’s being super underrated here.

              No offense to Moogene’s current solution but there’s still room for improvement for Moogene’s solution because currently if I’m being honest, it sounds similar to what a typical topical treatment would do and doesn’t sound like REAL “Gene Editing” to me.

              It must be noted that as the other user mentioned (Cooley, 2003) results in mice don’t necessarily translate to humans. This has been proven almost every time now for all treatments that used to be in the pipeline.

              What Jazz is suggesting sounds like ACTUAL “Gene Editing”.

              Just to reiterate what Jazz is suggesting because it truly is brilliant:

              Firstly, he suggested they should “Gene Edit the AR in the DP to reject Androgens altogether. Or even better, modify the AR to become an ER (Estrogen Receptor)!!”

              The reason for this is because if DHT is produced elsewhere in the body and still bonds to the AR at the follicle, the 5AR inactivation might be okay, but it won’t be serious mitigation like AR to ER” Gene Editing”.

              Secondly, he suggested “Editing the genes on the scalp to express themselves like the follicles of facial hair or any other thick and dense area of body hair because they are resistant to DHT and AGA”.

              Personally this sounds BRILLIANT and I’m sure to most of you as well this sounds like ACTUAL “Gene Editing” as opposed to simply applying a topical and using ultrasound at certain intervals so that the body absorbs the topical properly.

              Admin, It would be wonderful if you could run these suggestions by Moogene please. They need to seriously look into this as I believe the solution can actually be this.

              I would really like to here feedback from Moogene on this ACTUAL Gene Editing solution.



            • Follicle Thought on December 4, 2020 at 10:13 am

              Jazz, I will pass the idea along. Thanks for sharing and don’t worry they are very bright scientists working on this. It will be fine.



        • MRKA on December 1, 2020 at 2:24 am

          A pipe dream…thats all. Fundamentally, if all developments and approval of treatments are fast tracked..nothing is fast tracked.
          And believe me, medication for cancer treatment, MS, Alzheimer etc. are definetly higher up in the value chain of treatments. Maybe not for you , but certainly for the policy makers. Can you imagine the negative press coverage if resources are poured into fast tracking alopecia treatments whilst people have agonizing deaths in oncology departments.
          It may pay for you to focus on the treatments that are available right now.



          • Sonic on December 1, 2020 at 1:37 pm

            @MRKA Of course those diseases are also important, no one is saying they should get any less attention.

            I have to disagree with you though on two points. Firstly no one is asking for the president to fund the hairloss treatments in the pipeline. We’re simply asking for treatments to be fast tracked. With multiple Covid-19 vaccines soon to come to market in under a year of the virus being released, it’s become evident that treatments don’t really need to be trialed for so many years. Of course the basic trials for safety and efficacy need to be trailed but trials do not have to take 7 years.

            Secondly, the UK is currently implementing the fast tracking of treatments that is already running smoothly. So that’s even more reason as to why it’s possible to fast track multiple treatments at once.

            The only caveat I don’t agree with the UK system is whereby they don’t require the owners of the treatments to advertise their treatments or prove their effectiveness. I believe that’s a loop hole for companies to easily con the system. Of course improvements can be made in those areas.

            Lastly, the current treatments are completely useless to many people. Which is why there’s so many people globally working on hairloss solutions.



  11. D1 on November 30, 2020 at 6:18 pm

    @Follicle Thought could this protein folding research by DeepMind be used to find a drug for hair loss?



    • Follicle Thought on November 30, 2020 at 8:26 pm

      I suppose it could, but there’s also multiple AI teams working on hair loss already, so things should be pretty healthy in that area.



  12. Ben on November 30, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    Fantastic news. Admin, is there a chance to reach out to Exicure/Allergan?

    Given they are financed with a staggering 25 million USD for their hairloss-cure, I suppose they are far ahead in the CRISPR-game. An update would be great. Still it’s always good to have competition.

    There’s a chance that CRISPR comes oit before stem-cell treatments…

    Btw, Stemore changed the timeline of their products. There’s nothing coming out before 2024. As OrganTech went out of business unfortunately, I am becoming very cautious with those Asian start-ups…



  13. Yoda on December 1, 2020 at 5:32 pm

    Thanks for this article admin, not something that gets Yoda all that hyped at this point. I guess Histogen released clinical trial results for 18 weeks today. Most on other sites are craping on the results, which is typical for hair loss related sites. I don’t spend much time diving into the details, I leave that for the smart (and more motivated) guys like you! 🙂 What are your thoughts?



    • Follicle Thought on December 2, 2020 at 7:48 pm

      My thoughts on the Histogen news in a nutshell: It’s not optimal to hear that there was no statistically significant change at 18 weeks, but there is still potential for something worthwhile at 26 weeks. And this trial was not completely based on safety, they were looking for efficacy on this for sure. So, the 26 weeks data is the make or break moment for Histogen HSC coming early 2021. Let’s see.



  14. Mjones on December 1, 2020 at 8:49 pm

    Yoda – I know you are a fan of histogen but I think they dont have a working treatment here. Their original formula produced much better results in their phase 1 back in 2010. I don’t understand why they wouid scrap a working treatment that made it to phase 3 then replace it with a weak formula that showed no significant improvement. Any idea on this ? I’m baffled from a business perspective. This new ceo pissed off his shareholders today….



    • Yoda on December 2, 2020 at 7:20 pm

      Only thing I’m thinking that this Histogen trial was for safety only and that they still need to optimize for efficacy. Not sure if this is the case, just speculation as I’m too unmotivated to do a deep dive into the details. BTW Mjones, I’m no fan or foe of any treatment. I do more more stock into things that are actually in clinical trials seeing the light of day as opposed to things that are so far out, haven’t been tested on humans yet.



      • Yoda on December 2, 2020 at 7:21 pm

        “put more stock” edit



  15. Devit on December 1, 2020 at 11:07 pm

    My expectations were high from Histogen, but never considered as cure for baldness. I have referred the old data, it gives some improvement but they never claimed for complete cure.

    My hopes are still alive, this could be miracle treatment for some (may be 10/20%) but not for all. Same as we have min and fin. However, this could be addition for maintaining existing hair with limited growth. Who knows, once Histogen release this and slowly they improve for making it more effective.

    One solution cannot fit for all. Maybe this works for few and few may get benefit from Follica. More and more options will give mental strength to us.

    Keeping hope alive.



  16. Ahmed bekeer on December 2, 2020 at 7:20 am

    Histogen Announces Preliminary Week 18 HST-001 Study Results for the Treatment of Androgenic Alopecia in Men
    https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/12/01/2137447/0/en/Histogen-Announces-Preliminary-Week-18-HST-001-Study-Results-for-the-Treatment-of-Androgenic-Alopecia-in-Men.html
    We have to wait for the results of week 26 now in two months.



    • Follicle Thought on December 2, 2020 at 6:32 pm

      Yes, thank you Ahmed. This was posted on the Follicle Thought Updates page https://folliclethought.com/updates/ early Tuesday morning. Be sure to keep an eye on that page and bookmark it in your browser for ease of visiting.



  17. D1 on December 2, 2020 at 7:38 am

    How can things go backwards?



  18. D1 on December 2, 2020 at 11:29 am

    You know that the mRna vaccines being developed can be used for gene therapy. Is it possible to repurpose them to cure hair loss?



  19. user1 on December 2, 2020 at 6:05 pm

    fortunately im not that obsessed with hairloss anymore like i used to be. but this could be the end of hairloss at all. im hyped



    • Follicle Thought on December 2, 2020 at 6:31 pm

      Awesome, user1!



  20. Woofy97 on December 2, 2020 at 7:20 pm

    Sonic I like your reply to MRKA. Hairloss treatments need to be fast tracked in a safe manner I agree. It shouldn’t take 8 years! like you saw with tsuji and never even tested on a human! Ridiculous. And I’m done with Tsuji, just so you guys know. I’ve put all my chips on stemson they seem more professional and quicker with updates and more transparent. Also Alexey seems like a genuine nice guy and seems like he really wants to help us and get the job done! They have over come that one problem and (I’m sure they have more problems to over come) using 3d scaffold and then 7million investment and now going to work in the U.K. (a western country) and using “special” regulatory path the pieces of the puzzle are coming in place for stemson. Unlike tsuji who took 8 years in preclinical never tested on a human, promised to release in 2020. Tsuji Talked about testing on mice for safety in 2018 or 2019 (he didn’t even have to test on mice to start a trial) according to Tissue. then he talks about the price of his hair cloning, like nobody cares about the price you should have been more focused on human trials releasing this to the public! and then tsuji goes bankrupt.



    • Yoda on December 2, 2020 at 7:24 pm

      “I’ve put all my chips on stemson” Woofy my boy, will you ever learn?



      • Woofy97 on December 2, 2020 at 7:57 pm

        Yoda well not all Chips lol. but i hope you read the whole message I have typed.



      • Woofy97 on December 2, 2020 at 10:36 pm

        Also yoda, what is there to learn? I’ve already learned through the years of having AGA that most of these companies end up failing but you know I’m not going to sit around looking at the past and saying oh this other company is going to fail because there was this one company that was like this company and so on. You can’t look at the past you have move to the next best company so that’s what I’m doing I’ve shifted my attention on stemson. Tsujis is unfortunately out of race.



        • Yoda on December 3, 2020 at 2:04 pm

          Woofy, being positive and looking forward with interest is good. Putting too much hope into something and waiting on treatments that are currently available is misguided.



    • roeysdomi on December 2, 2020 at 7:42 pm

      At the first stages they always update fast. The problem start when they getting close to clinical trails . Dont hold your breath . Tsuji mathods was far more advanced . He had 3 mathod to create the hair cloning one of them was the same as stemson. So i wont hope they bring somthing new. Plus in their mathod there is no garntee the hair are dht restitent



  21. Sonic on December 2, 2020 at 9:54 pm

    Personally, Im releaved that Tsuji is potentially off the table. Before you get upset with this comment just hear out my logic:

    People think, “as long as a hairloss treatment/cure comes out, it doesn’t matter about the price because at least the technology is out there”. Wrong! Tsuji and his company don’t care about the people, they only care about the money they can make from the treatment only. While some may say, “yeah well why don’t you make a treatment and not sell it for a little then “, to that I respond, firstly, the reason their in Research and development is not pure. They seek money not simply to help people. I say this because their prepared to charge people 6 figures for the potential cure. I’m sorry but that just screams: “I don’t give a damn if you can’t afford it”. People could buy a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, massive property/properties, etc with that kind of money. The multi-millionaires that potentially could even afford it could use the money to double their businesses. And it would still put a dent in even a multi-millionaires pocket (depending on which country currency you’re earning). The only few people who can comfortably afford Tsujis potential treatment/cure is people that are billionaires or close to being a billionaire.

    It was even said that it would take many years before the price reduces and there’s no guarantee it will ever be commercialized. So all this talk about, “as long as a treatment/cure comes out its fine”, I say bull shit. If Tsuji was successful, they’d be a patent, meaning you won’t have anyone copying his idea and it may take at least 15 to 20 years for the price to drop slightly. By that time, even those who have lost their hair would have been forced to grow comfortable without their hair over the years.

    So in conclusion I’d actually be glad if Tsuji was off the table because they introduced a ridiculous price tag that most people wouldn’t be able to afford anyway making it useless.

    I believe other companies will take Tsuji’s place. Thats how the world works, life goes on with or without. Hairloss/Thinning affects almost 70% or more of the entire population on earth at some point in their lives. People will replace Tsujis work, we already have Stemson potentially on the horizon.

    I hope this ridiculous Price Tag Tsuji introduced goes away with their company. Sorry not sorry.

    I’d much rather support other companies that actually care somewhat for the p and don’t charge such ridiculously high prices.



    • Woofy97 on December 3, 2020 at 3:12 am

      Sonic I agree.



    • al.budny on December 3, 2020 at 11:24 am

      we dont know how much will stemson be?



      • Sonic on December 3, 2020 at 11:53 am

        Yes, we don’t know how much Stemsom will be but if they are even remotely near the price of Stemsom they wouldn’t even be worth considering to the majority of people. I’m just hoping they don’t charge as much.

        Stemsom/Tsuji/any other company that creates the cure can still make an enormous amount of money. Possibly in the league of Apple which is the most profitable/valuable company in the entire world without charging a fortune for their products.

        Literally take Apple for example, they charge more than other brands yes, but they don’t charge ridiculous prices that only the richest 1% of the population can afford and that has enabled them to find the perfect balance and make them the most valuable company in the world. Stemson/Tsuji/other companies need to find this balance and operate on this logic otherwise their turn over will be greatly greatly greatly reduced by cutting out the remaining 99% of the population that wouldnt be able to afford Tsuji’s price tag.



        • Sonic on December 3, 2020 at 11:57 am

          “If they are even remotely near the price of” *Tsuji* (excuse my typographical error)



          • al.budny on December 3, 2020 at 12:50 pm

            I know it’s too early for such questions, but how much is a reasonable price in your opinion? we do not know what the costs of producing new hair will be



            • Sonic on December 3, 2020 at 4:03 pm

              @al.budny: In my opinion, deciding on a price range for a cure that will generate/transplant new hair, you’d have to consider what the price of current treatment are, how many people are currently able to afford it and are willing to spend that amount of money on their hair by looking at the numbers of how many people purchase those current treatments. Then you’d also have to know what you’re actually offering and how that fits in relative to the current pricing of hair transplants.

              For example as a guide, the most expensive hair transplants in the world are around $15 000. You would need to look how many people currently have been able to afford the most expensive transplants. I can guarantee that number is farrrrr less than your mid range-priced transplants. So logically if the founder of the solution wants to get more customers, they’d have to make their prices a little less than that. The other reason having too high prices is bad, is because you lose out on international customers whose currency is much weaker than the US Dollar. So pricing can’t be exorbitant.

              But the founder of the solution doesn’t need to charge super high prices just because their offering more hair to win the market. Their solution simply needs to be better than all current treatments and better priced for what they offer. For example, they have the potential to make all current hair treatments (hair transplants – FUE and FUT, Laser Therapy, PRP, Finasteride, Minoxidil and all other snake oils) completely obsolete. These current treatments are running the hair loss industry. But the solution has the potential to acquire the revenue of all these current treatments forming a multi-billion dollar industry. Can you imagine how much money the solution/cure has the potential to make if priced right and they run the competitors out of business? Easily Billions, and possibly even Trillions.

              I believe another way to get more customers is to offer flexibility regarding the treatment because not everyone will need a full head of hair and not everyone would be able to afford a full head of hair/NW1 anyway.

              For example, they could say for 3000 grafts: “x – amount” is the price. For 4500 grafts: ” y – amount” is the price. For 6000 grafts: “z – amount” is the price. This is how you easily run current hair transplants out of business by making them obsolete. And that’s already a multi-billion dollar industry on its own. And then if they want to make more money, they can have a special package for a full head of hair/NW1 for those that are completely bald or near, that have the money and price it accordingly. They could even have a package for young adults, that are just starting to experience a receding hairline, a package to perfect their hairlines. And if they price it right almost every male would save up the majority of their salary simply for that treatment because we know how much those that just start to lose their hair start to become super self conscious of their hair loss and want to fix it asap. This is of course noting that the limitations of limited donor hair is no more a problem. This would mean people won’t need Finasteride and Minoxidil and any other snake oil because they would obviously opt to go for the once off permanent solution with no side effects as opposed to having to be consistent with pills and snake oils that are not require discipline if everyday use without fail but still don’t work. This is also how you make Finasteride and Minoxidil and other snake oils obsolete. And that’s another multi-billion dollar revenue making brands that the solution can take their money away.



      • Yoda on December 3, 2020 at 2:07 pm

        And we didn’t know how much Tsuji was going to be. There was only wild speculation on pricing from a dodgy translated interview with that Youngjet dude. How credible did that guy turn out to be?



        • MRKA on December 3, 2020 at 6:13 pm

          Hello Yoda, could you please advise your dose of daily oral minoxidil?
          The UK NHS recommends 0.625mg. Other relstively trustworthy sources state that up to 2.5mg is ok.
          I do understand that 10 to 20mg is standard for high blood pressure treatment.

          Thanks



          • Yoda on December 3, 2020 at 11:12 pm

            My dose is 10mg but I upped it mostly due to borderline BP. I would think 2.5 is where I’d start if my BP was normal.



        • Follicle Thought on December 3, 2020 at 7:37 pm

          To be fair, it’s not clear if Youngjet or Dr. Tsuji is the one lacking credibility at the moment.

          For the record, Dr. Tsuji is the one whose company has gone on record claiming commercialization/trials in 2020 over the past few years and has not provided any public statement regarding the foreclosure of his company. Someone owes a simple explanation I feel.



          • Yoda on December 3, 2020 at 11:22 pm

            I believe much of this was poor translation of Japanese to English with people reading into things that they wanted to believe, or in the case of price, not believe. I never put much stock into the 2020 timeline, seemed too aggressive from a logical point of view. Not sure why a guy who doesn’t use his real name, like Youngjet, is to be looked upon as a credible, on the record journalist. But hell, my real name isn’t Yoda so what do I know. 😉 At the end of the day, who cares about Youngjet, he got his 15 minutes of hair loss fame.



          • Woofy97 on December 4, 2020 at 1:58 am

            Tsuji definitely owes us all a clear explanation after 8 years of this. Youngjet is responsible for massive hype he can go back to his dead YouTube channel lol. I was never going to get tsuji’s hair cloning anyway the only reason I talked about him so much was because I just wanted to see a human With cloned hair in a clinical trial that’s all. I wanted to see it atleast attempted.



            • Follicle Thought on December 4, 2020 at 10:17 am

              To be fair, I see no reason for Youngjet to fabricate anything from Tsuji since he obviously had a conversation with him. The points which are important to review are: what did Youngjet have to gain from sharing that on his Youtube? (answer: not too much) Would he risk his whole reputation and hair transplant consultation business by spreading a lie which Dr. Tsuji could refute in one email response to the hundreds of emails he receives in a month? Or he simply could have posted a small disclaimer on the Organ Technologies website to refute it? (answer: very unlikely)



    • Afshin on December 4, 2020 at 2:19 am

      You’re right ?



      • Yoda on December 4, 2020 at 12:06 pm

        With all due respect Admin, I’ve seen plenty of hair transplant consultants spread misinformation over the years regarding potential treatments for obvious reasons. I’m not saying this is the case with this “youngjet” guy but something to think about.



        • Follicle Thought on December 4, 2020 at 8:46 pm

          Sure Yoda, but there are still no good answers to my questions. Especially when the proposed timeline for Tsuji was so close and didn’t happen, now that it’s the end of the 2020 what would Youngjet tell all those new potential customers he gained. Such a small gain to ruin a reputation publicly, makes no sense for anyone that can plan for more than 3 months ahead, and Youngjet does not strike me as a buffoon.



        • MRKA on December 5, 2020 at 5:05 am

          Hellou Yoda, I guess there are some HT surgeons with integrity around. Bernstein in New York appears to be one of them.
          But there are also many butchers around especially in countries that I would never visit for a holiday let alone visit for a HT.

          What is of a concern that some posters on other hair loss forums dismiss proven treatments and promote HT surgeons often in one of those countries. Of course they do not recommend it to others. They always talk about themselves. They are not that dumb. Anyway, it smells like a rat big time.
          Guilty until proven innocent..is the way to go.



  22. AlwaysPain on December 3, 2020 at 8:53 am

    Any breezula update?



  23. ataccoT on December 3, 2020 at 6:53 pm

    Experts on Hair Cloning:

    “This is one that really looks like it is going to happen — and happen in the next few years.” Washenik says, “So this three-to-four-years-away number is not fantasy.”

    — “Hair Cloning Nears Reality as Baldness Cure” Washenik, 2004

    “The current situation suggests that cell-based treatments are no closer to successful realization than when the author last reviewed this topic 10 years ago. […] What has become increasingly clear is that methods that routinely induce new hair follicles in mice and rats are largely unsuccessful in humans.”

    — “Cell-based treatments for hair loss” Cooley, 2013

    “Cell-based therapies for hair loss are still at their infancy and more robust clinical studies are needed to better evaluate their mechanisms of action, efficacy, safety, benefits and limitations.”

    — “Advances in Stem Cell-Based Therapy for Hair Loss” Tosti, 2020

    TLDR: Don’t worry about the price for a procedure that has for decades been stuck in the preclinical stage. Sure, now Stemson says they’ll move from pre-clinical to trials in 3-4 years or more. I’m done with this game.



  24. Woofy97 on December 4, 2020 at 3:45 am

    Good thing I didn’t buy stock in Histogen it has tanked on that news. I usually stay away from stocks under $10 basically penny stocks They are to risky to hold for swing trades, long term or even short term day trades unless you know what you’re doing. I’m in on Pfizer



  25. Sonic on December 4, 2020 at 10:12 am

    Hi Everyone and Admin, PLEASE PAY ATTENTION to Jazz’s two comments. I actually think its BRILLIANT and it’s being super underrated here.

    No offense to Moogene’s current solution but there’s still room for improvement for Moogene’s solution because currently if I’m being honest, it sounds similar to what a typical topical treatment would do and doesn’t sound like REAL “Gene Editing” to me.

    It must be noted that as the other user mentioned the hairloss expert (Cooley, 2013) said results in mice don’t necessarily translate to humans. This has been proven almost every time now for all treatments that used to be in the pipeline.

    What Jazz is suggesting sounds like ACTUAL “Gene Editing”.

    Just to reiterate what Jazz is suggesting because it truly is brilliant:

    Firstly, he suggested they should “Gene Edit the AR in the DP to reject Androgens altogether. Or even better, modify the AR to become an ER (Estrogen Receptor)!!”

    The reason for this is because if DHT is produced elsewhere in the body and still bonds to the AR at the follicle, the 5AR inactivation suggested by Moogene might be okay, but it won’t be a serious mitigation like AR to ER “Gene Editing”.

    Secondly, he suggested “Editing the genes on the scalp to express themselves like the follicles of facial hair or any other thick and dense area of body hair because they are resistant to DHT and AGA”.

    Personally this sounds BRILLIANT and I’m sure to most of you as well this sounds like ACTUAL “Gene Editing” as opposed to simply applying a topical and using ultrasound at certain intervals so that the body absorbs the topical properly.

    Admin, It would be wonderful if you could run these suggestions by Moogene please. They need to seriously look into this as I believe the solution can actually be this.

    I would really like to hear feedback from Moogene on this ACTUAL Gene Editing solution.

    Sorry for the repost, I had a typographical error in the previous post. But also I thought it would draw greater attention if I post here as opposed to a reply under Jazz comment which is several days ago and way up in the Thread. This is for ease of readability.



  26. Follicle Thought on December 4, 2020 at 10:21 am

    Just an FYI for everyone interested, I did hear from J Hewitt recently. It seems that the virus has slowed business development down almost completely in Japan and that is the status until further notice. Knight sounded a little perturbed about the situation and is still committed to pursuing it. Thanks



    • Radula on December 4, 2020 at 10:31 am

      Delays are always a disappointment but the only things we can count on it seems like. Bring on 2021



    • D1 on December 4, 2020 at 1:10 pm

      @FollicleThought this is so annoying, couldnt he try the UK as well?



  27. Yoda on December 4, 2020 at 12:08 pm

    Admin, not sure if anyone else noticed but the site seems to be responding slower and a bit erratic these past few days. I don’t think it’s my computer, works fine on other sites.



    • Follicle Thought on December 4, 2020 at 6:23 pm

      Thanks for the feedback Yoda. Will look into this.



  28. Jonathan Weaver on December 4, 2020 at 2:29 pm

    It would be better to develop a gene editing treatment which prevent DHT to bind to follicles.



    • thinningontop on December 4, 2020 at 4:01 pm

      This would essentially do that by stopping DHT production.



      • Jonathan Weaver on December 4, 2020 at 7:24 pm

        But messing with DHT production have severe side-effects, like finasteride. Just preventing it to bind to follicles without messing the production is much safer.



        • thinningontop on December 4, 2020 at 8:35 pm

          They’re genetically editing the SRD5A2 gene in DP cells, theoretically it would be side effect free it it worked – they’re not just inhibiting DHT production systemically, they’re trying to turn off the gene (targeting specifically the dermal papilla cells) which encodes for the enzyme that coverts T into DHT.

          Also, while finasteride does potentially have some side effects I wouldn’t call them severe. Minoxidil arguably can cause much severe side effects if you’re prone to them or using the drug irresponsibly.

          I’ve seen stories of guys using hardcore stacks (spiro, oral min, dut, ram… etc, all types of stuff) some manage to even grow back their juvenile hairline from nw3 zones while only having minimal sides. I’d never advise anyone to try a stack like that though.

          But the interesting thing with this technology is theoretically if you can locally edit genes in the DP cells and is doesn’t go off target – they can potentially look at recreating the genetic environment in the local tissue that these more hardcore stacks create.. all while potentially negating the unwanted sides.

          Personally though, I’ve always been more exited for Exicure. Their technology is based on SNA’s which is spherical nucleic acid and they’ve got a collaboration, option and licensing agreement with Allergan for hair disorders.



  29. Sonic on December 4, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    I actually agree with the Admin regarding YoungJet. Dr Tsuji could have at any time sent a simple statement to refute what YoungJet claimed about the price because there were surely plenty of emails to Dr Tsuji and company regarding the astronomical price Tag of the treatment. But they didn’t.

    The following can not be proven ofcourse, but I believe Dr Tsuji possibly priced the treatment so high because he knew Organ Technologies were in extreme debt and on the brink of bankruptcy. This still does not excuse the price tag though because it isn’t a realistic price.



  30. Mjones on December 4, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    No I dont agree. Why would Dr. Tsuji waste his time refuting anything. He doesn’t have to. He doesn’t owe us anything. None of these companies owe us anything. They are a business trying to make a product that will make them rich. A doctor researcher is not going to waste his time refuting youngjet lol. Come on guys…We dont know what is going on behind closed doors at organ tech or ryken. Maybe tsuji is working with another company to kick start his cloning. We just have to wait and see.



    • Yoda on December 5, 2020 at 9:51 am

      Yoda totally agrees with Mjones’ disagreement. Well said my fellow grumpy old man! 🙂



    • Follicle Thought on December 5, 2020 at 3:18 pm

      I didn’t say Tsuji had to, but it would be very reasonable for Tsuji to refute such a widespread opinion that his treatment was going to be $300k/trialing in 2020. It would make sense to do so with the notion reaching status quo like it did, many companies do such things all the time. Tsuji is also not such of a big celebrity that he’s above anything. Until he brings any kind of formal treatment to market (or even trials for that matter), he’s simply a research scientist who works in a lab. My point was that Youngjet would be silly to expose himself for such a bleek purpose of 3 months of popularity for spreading a rumor when Tsuji could refute it via email very easily and Yj’s career would be over and I don’t see anyone refuting that point.

      Also, that’s the end of the conversation and let’s now get back to the interesting new technology from Moogene, Thanks.



      • Yoda on December 6, 2020 at 12:19 pm

        In other news…the site seems fine now admin. Not sure if it was on my end or a problem.



    • Woofy97 on December 6, 2020 at 4:04 pm

      Mjones I disagree tsuji owes us an explanation maybe not for the price, but for All the years of BS hype and he’s on record saying 2020 release. It’s time for these career scientists to be held accountable. They never get the job the done!



  31. Andre Lindbæk Mikalsen on December 5, 2020 at 4:17 am

    Admin, what’s going on with Insilico Medicine? Any news?



  32. Mjones on December 6, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    Woofy its not tsuji fault for a bunch of hair loss forum people getting mad that he dudnt release anything. Blame yourself for being gullible that hair cloning would be solved, released and available after just 5 years of research and one safety trial lol. Woofy I like you buddy but please look at mpb industry similarly to the penis enlargement and weight loss industry. Full of scams and shady business feeding off the weak and desperate. Eventually a new treatment will come out that works much better than what we have. Question is when and by whom? Most likely a random discovery out of nowhere. Keep using your big 3 and eat healthy.



    • Woofy97 on December 6, 2020 at 7:54 pm

      Mjones blame myself? yeah okay…. Blame myself when tsuji is a scientist on record saying we will release in 2020 and then he also said start trials in 2020. I’m sure you believed him. Why do you after all the years of coming on these sites do you keep coming back? You must believe some of these scientists and companies.



      • Yoda on December 6, 2020 at 8:10 pm

        Yes, us self entitled hair loss suffers on forums deserve answers when a treatment or company goes tits up. Come on Woofy, just because it doesn’t work out how you want doesn’t mean you’re owed an explanation. I’m not a Tsuji fan or foe but figure he has better things to do than update us, the common man, or respond to any falsehoods that might be spread by anyone.



        • Woofy97 on December 6, 2020 at 9:19 pm

          Yoda and mjones, he doesn’t owe us an explanation you’re right but he SHOULD. People listen to this stuff, people believe these Scientists they expect them to get the job done or atleast attempt the stuff they are saying. We are not scientists we are observers looking at them from the outside we are not in the inside we have no clue what is going on, we just would like to believe the scientists and have hope. When you come out and say we will release in 2020 and then you say we will start trials at the end of 2020 when you make that comment in the middle of 2020 and then you never do. We SHOULD have an explanation.



          • Follicle Thought on December 7, 2020 at 9:51 am

            I agree that if a representative of a company states that they have plans to release a treatment or start a trial in 20XX and that date comes by and goes without the action taking place they are obliged to provide an update or brief explanation. This is just common human communication practices.



      • thinningontop on December 6, 2020 at 9:18 pm

        I imagine he comes back for the same reason as most of us, it’s a good source for updates in the field. The best in fact.

        Also, If im being completely honest, he’s right, the only person to blame is yourself if you assumed everything would go to plan. Historically they never have, Yoda pointed this out to you many times (for your benefit, not to crush your hopes). Demanding an explanation from him is insane, it comes across as very self centred and un-rational.

        People need to taper their expectations, similar to those at the top of this post saying that scientists should look into doing X, Y & Z via genetic editing.. not realising the how complicated it can get and how little we still know about here certain gene’s interact with each other.

        The 1st step is being able to successfully roll out their first treatment targeting SRD5A2, if the technology (NP-MB activated via ultrasound) actually works, then they can look at targetting other genes I’d love to be able to put my scalp in the environment that spiro does without the high risk of sides via a localised gene therapy, but its still a long way off and it could even .

        Hell, I’d be happy as hell if the just released the SRD5A2 treatment. It’d be groundbreaking if it didn’t go off-site.



        • Yoda on December 7, 2020 at 6:06 pm

          Boys (and girls), the most important thing you can do is to research the hell out of what’s available today beyond Rogaine and oral fin. This includes reputable doctors that specialize in hair loss and other FDA approved treatments that might assist you in the fight. If you sit back waiting for the cure to fall into your laps you’ll end up disappointed time and time again. Be proactive until the next gen of treatments becomes available.



          • michael on December 7, 2020 at 6:49 pm

            What are you talking about? there is nothing else that works, it doesn’t matter what doctor you go to, this is the research being done for you right here and stolen to YouTube videos.



    • Yoda on December 6, 2020 at 8:08 pm

      Did someone say penis enlargement? Screw hair loss, Yoda is in bitches, I have a very tiny one! 🙂



      • Yoda on December 8, 2020 at 12:09 pm

        Ok Michael, I’ve been fighting MPB since I was 17, now I’m 58. Apparently you know better than Yoda. I guess things like Dut, oral minox, high stength topical minox with other additives that have maintained my hair over the years are a figment of my imagination. Seriously dude, take your pissy, uniformed attitude elsewhere.



        • MRKA on December 8, 2020 at 12:59 pm

          Yoda…well said.

          I feel sorry for people who are looking for advice to their hair loss problems. If they read the bullshit from posters like Michael they most likely feel very demoralized.

          Hair loss is for some people extremely traumatizing. Helpful info is vital for them.

          Its good to see your posts on here.

          Thanks



          • Yoda on December 8, 2020 at 5:32 pm

            Thanks MRKA, I try to be helpful with MY experience from years of researching and trying different treatments. Yoda is not a medical professional so I refrain form telling someone what is right for their situation.



          • Follicle Thought on December 9, 2020 at 11:33 am

            Hi MRKA, I know you’re one of the more mature and knowledgeable commenters here, but please try to keep things civil. Thanks



        • michael on December 8, 2020 at 3:35 pm

          All I’m saying is why would I go to a doctor for anything else when there is nothing else we all know what’s available, there is nothing new



          • Yoda on December 8, 2020 at 5:37 pm

            Michael, there are a lot more FDA approved ingredients available than standard 5% Rogaine and Propecia. There are a few decent doctors that know what they’re doing in regards to hair loss but not many. For me it’s been a combo of finding the right docs and researching the options. If you just want to throw in the towel or believe nothing else is available so be it. If I took this attitude I would’ve been horseshoe bald 25 years ago, I’m not.



            • Sonic on December 8, 2020 at 5:52 pm

              Hi Yoda, you mentioned there are other FDA approved treatments for Hairloss besides Propecia and 5% Rogaine.

              Can you please tell us which other FDA treatments you are aware of? You mentioned DUT, Oral Minoxidil, High Strength Topical Minoxidil. Are these FDA approved?

              Do you know of any others besides these you’ve mentioned?



            • michael on December 8, 2020 at 8:34 pm

              I’ve been battling hair loss for about forty years and know most of the top doctors in NY (the og s) I did my first transplants in the 90s and was using 2% minox off label back then. If there was something better than the big 4 right now I would have heard about it, one of my doctors goes to the conventions every year with the rest of the big shots. Prp Exosomes activ regenera hair regenensis etc. haven’t really been proven to do anything for anyone except for the doctors that sell it. What else is there? that’s why we are all on here looking for the next best thing. Doctors have nothing new to offer.



  33. Woofy97 on December 6, 2020 at 9:54 pm

    Thinningontop I don’t assume everything will go to plan. Tumors could happen, rejection of grafts and more.



    • Yoda on December 9, 2020 at 9:09 am

      Yoda said FDA approved treatments not “FDA approved treatments for hair loss”. e.g. dutasteride, bimatoprost, topical versions of fin/dut, oral minox, etc.



    • Yoda on December 9, 2020 at 9:30 am

      Michael, our paths are similar, I started using off label 2% minox in the mid-80’s. I was always a step ahead of the eventual RX products (5% minox), using fin (oral and topical) off label by the mid 90’s as well. Our paths diverge in that I researched other options that use FDA approved ingredients, mainly in topicals and more recently oral minox, which has been a game changer for me. While these treatments may not be for you, I know what I’m talking about.



      • michael on December 9, 2020 at 10:44 am

        I’m not disagreeing with anyone just giving my thoughts, and also waiting for the next best thing. The hair loss business is the biggest scam business out there and I have bought into a lot of bs products available over the years, I’d hate to see others waste money on nonsense that just don’t work, although I will still continue to trial new products for efficiency and gives my thoughts on whether it’s worth the time and effort.



        • Yoda on December 9, 2020 at 6:55 pm

          Fair enough Michael…please reread my original post that you took issue with. Here’s the money shot “research the hell out of what’s available today beyond Rogaine and oral fin. This includes reputable doctors that specialize in hair loss and other FDA approved treatments that might assist you in the fight”.
          What Yoda said is that there are treatments beyond Rogaine and Propecia that have been FDA approved, albeit not directly for MPB.



  34. Mjones on December 6, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    Use the force yoda haha. Its not the size of the boat but the motion in the ocean haha. Hair loss unfortunately is in the same category as penis enlargement industry.

    Woofy- I didnt mean to offend you because you remind me of how I thought back when I was in mid 20s. Mpb hit me at 19 yrs old. Huge self esteem killer for me. I researched and went to diff derms and ht docs. We had cloning as the cure and it would be available by 2010 and gene editing by 2020. From 2000 to 2010 I was praying for OSH101, Intercytex and Aderans to put an end to this crap, but after each one failed and false promises from these companies I realized they are all businessmen trying to make a buck and use us. I remember a doctor at bosley ht telling me back in 2002 that hair cloning is 20 years away. I thought he was insane and that he was lying to me so I would get an ht. He was wrong lol. Its 2020 and all we have is the big 3 still. My point being is 20 yrs later and we may be one step closer in developing hair cloning but we still need 10 more steps to go and unfortunately they are long steps ahead. To answer your question, I come to these sites because it’s a place where I can let off my insecurities of my hair loss, discuss my opinions with other forum members, share what works with me all these years and see what the latest news in hairloss is. Fyi…I never thought tsuji was coming out in 2020 haha you can look back at my older posts how I consistently said it was impossible lol. Everyone knows me as being pro Follica:)



    • woofy97 on December 6, 2020 at 11:13 pm

      no problem mjones. Also just curious what norwood are you mjones?



  35. Woofy97 on December 7, 2020 at 12:18 pm

    Thank you follicle thought for agreeing with me. Atleast someone around here understands what I’m saying. Lol



  36. Mjones on December 7, 2020 at 1:42 pm

    Woofy- you are right that technically tsuji should give an update but remember most people dont care and think for themselves. So you shouldn’t expect anything good from anyone, especially in the hairloss world. I am nw2.5 diffuse.



  37. Woofy97 on December 7, 2020 at 2:42 pm

    Mjones just want to make sure, did you mean to type think about themselves? Or for themselves?



    • Mjones on December 7, 2020 at 5:01 pm

      About themselves *



      • Woofy97 on December 7, 2020 at 5:53 pm

        Mjones well I agree with that then.



        • Yoda on December 7, 2020 at 6:02 pm

          Woofy, I saw you reference Yoda’s name in vain on another forum. Better watch yourself boy, Yoda is everywhere! 🙂



          • Woofy97 on December 7, 2020 at 6:09 pm

            Yoda Lol ? I knew you would see that.



  38. Woofy97 on December 8, 2020 at 1:44 am

    Mjones i’m a Norwood 5 I’ve told you that before but Dr. Wong in Canada told me most doctors would classify me as a 5 but he was going to classify me as a 6! My dad Is in his early 60s and still has hair on his head he’s like a nw5 or 6 it’s not bad, Its not bad like a 7. My two uncles on my mothers side are 7s but they both have a large donor area it doesn’t look like a horse shoe you know?. I guess they got it from there one uncle because there father, my grandfather was not bald. So honestly I’m probably following my one uncles hair loss pattern but luckily in this day in age we have Finasteride and I’m on it but just wish I could you know fix this unpleasant frontal area, my crown doesn’t look bad it’s the front that brings me down. It looks like shit lol



    • Mjones on December 8, 2020 at 3:54 pm

      All the men in my family are nw7 and a few nw6. Once I saw shedding at 19 I knew asap it wa mob. Jumped on propecia 1mg at a nw1 with light diffuse. Propecia filled my diffuse in at year 2 and stabilized it for 12 years. Added rogaine 6 years ago and fighting an uphill battle lol



      • Yoda on December 8, 2020 at 5:47 pm

        If anyone is interested in old Yoda’s babbling, I’m probably going to start to taper off oral Dut and be more aggressive with topical Dut. I’m currently doing both, but the topical is a lower percentage (.01% in 7% minox) then I’m planning to use (.5% standalone) to ween off oral. My plan is to more or less alternate eod and eventually use oral 1-2 times a week, maybe less. I was on oral fin for about 20 years and oral dut the past 5, should be interesting. I don’t need from a prostrate standpoint even at 58 and while I don’t think I’ve had sides it’s desirable to take a few oral meds as possible for liver, etc. I do have “brain fog” my doc doesn’t think it’s from Dut but I’d like to see how I feel when I cut down/eliminate it. Trust me, if Yoda’s hair takes a hit I’ll be back on oral Dut lickity split!



  39. Woofy97 on December 8, 2020 at 10:34 pm

    Sonic, dutasteride is not FDA approved for hair loss it’s only approved for symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia if you want it for hair loss then you have to get a prescription off label. Oral minoxidil is also not FDA approved for hair loss. I’ve seen before and after pics from oral minoxidil and they look impressive the only concern I have is that it can mess with your heart so that’s concerning. As for topical minoxidil that’s FDA approved for hair loss.



    • Sonic on December 8, 2020 at 10:45 pm

      Thank you Woofy for highlighting that whilst I awaited a response from Yoda. That proves that none of the treatments Yoda mentioned (besides the obvious Topical Minoxidil and Propecia) are actually FDA approved. A treatment that could affect the heart as you mentioned is a very high risk treatment.

      Which is why I’m really curious as to why Yoda stated: “There’s a lot more FDA approved ingredients besides Propecia and 5% Topical Minoxidil”.

      I’d really like to hear from Yoda which are these FDA approved hairloss ingredients that myself and Michael are not aware of.

      Until I get some good answers from Yoda, I’m going to have to agree with everything Michael said.



      • Yoda on December 9, 2020 at 9:13 am

        Yoda is not here to convince anyone, cares who you agree with or give medical advice.



    • Yoda on December 9, 2020 at 9:11 am

      Spot on Woofy, you get where I was going with my comments and treatments THAT I HAVE ACTUALLY USED WITH RESULTS! Also add in high strength, compounded minoxidil topicals that have other “goodies” in them.



  40. thinningontop on December 9, 2020 at 12:08 am

    Tbf, Yoda has just mentioned he’s been suffering from brain fog.. I think he meant off-label FDA approved drugs as he never specifically said FDA approved for hairloss.



    • Yoda on December 9, 2020 at 9:15 am

      You got it right ToT, in regards to brain fog not sure if that’s a result of dut (and fin as I’ve had for a while) but we shall see. Could just be age or something else.



  41. Woofy97 on December 9, 2020 at 12:24 am

    I made a mistake in my other post about my fathers hair pattern when it comes to predicting mine so I said my father is a nw5 or 6 I was wrong he’s a nw 3 vertex Comfirmed by Dr Rassman so that leaves two Norwood 7s in my family and I’m unfortunately following there pattern. Like I said good thing I’m on Finasteride.



    • MRKA on December 9, 2020 at 1:31 am

      Woofy, you said that Finasteride is a good thing. I hope you are taking it with medical supervision due to young age.

      But is it true, that for a few years you did not take it because of fear of side effects?
      You stated that you researched the internet. Probably an unfortunate case of ‘confirmation bias’ methinks.
      Did you also get the info from posters on other hairloss forums?
      This can happen when nasty trolls post their garbage, either deliberately or by generalizing their experiences.

      Always use controlled approved data 🙂



      • Woofy97 on December 9, 2020 at 2:37 am

        Hi MRKA yes that is true from November of 2015 when I first noticed this nightmare start I researched and researched for something and I also thought my hair loss would stop I didn’t think it would get this bad. So as I researched I saw online about Finasteride I started to read horror stories, now I know that Finasteride you can have sexual side effects but you never know if these people are trolling or not, well unfortunately I believed them and thought if I take Finasteride I will have sexual side effects well that was a mistake I regret and I think about it to this day ? I should have just ignored that and went and saw a doctor ASAP and then in August of 2017 my hair loss really started to pick up speed so I went and saw a hair transplant doctor here in the United States and I got on Finasteride the first year I had pretty good regrowth second year and to now it has just stabilized and I have no side effects I’ve never had side effects. If I just got on Finasteride sooner I probably wouldn’t be here. ?



  42. Stef on December 9, 2020 at 12:39 am

    What is everyone’s opinion on HT? I’m very close to getting one but would love all your opinions and insights on it. I’m a constant observer on this site and have chimed in once in a while as well.

    For context: I’m 33.5 Norwood 3 with mostly receding in the front. I take fin and topical minox everyday (started 2.5 years ago) and started using nizoral shampoo twice a week and have been micro needling once a week since end of sept (I think it’s actually making a difference).

    I found a HT doctor in NYC that seems top of the line, but he’s super pricey. We’re looking at 17K for about 2700 grafts FUE treatment. His work is great but my biggest concern is future hair loss. HT was always a last resort for me but I’ve been let down too many times in the last 3 years with these treatments that don’t seem to pan out and at this point I’d rather get an HT while I’m still young and single 😉



    • MRKA on December 9, 2020 at 3:10 am

      Hi Stef,

      I guess you are talking about Bernstein in NYC?!
      That is where I probably would go for a HT. He is very expensive indeed but he can afford to be expensive. I could imagine that Wall Street Bankers go there. They most likely look for the best. Rest assured they do proper research as a screwed HT would impact on their career etc. Those people certainly dont travel to ‘lovely’ countries such as Turkey for a HT.
      My thinking is..a cheap HT can never be very good but an expensive HT is no guarantee that it will be very good. The trouble is that a HT cannot be repaired like a car due to obvious reasons.

      You have seen progress in just 2.5 months of needling. I guess it helps to increase the sulfotransferase enzyme and thus boosts minox action. There are studies from this year that indicate this phenomenon.
      I am going to use from January oral minoxidil ( if I am able to obtain it). I can’t be bothered of topicals anymore. Actually first time minoxidil for me.
      If I were you, I would continue with your regimen and use the oral stuff. In 6 months I would reassess the situation.



      • michael on December 9, 2020 at 11:25 am

        Dr Bernstein is very good doctor but would not recommend doing a strip procedure with them due to the fact they are still using staple closures which can destroy some of your donor hair and will leave you with a Frankenstein scar across the back your head, that will be very difficult to cover down the line if you choose to shave your head down. Look at some of the pics on Jonathan Gerow and Matt Lulo websites of cover ups it’s very difficult to cover those types of scars. Feller and Bloxham also use staples but are also great surgeons. There are many other doctors that use sutures and tricho closures that leave you with barley a scar, or just stick to doing fue only if it can work for you in the long run.



        • Augusto on December 9, 2020 at 11:50 am

          Hello administrator, I wanted to know what was the treatment with sandalore, thank you very much in advance and sorry for my English, use the translator!



    • michael on December 9, 2020 at 3:29 am

      You have to look at your father’s and grandfather’s hair lines to see where they are at, but I would try to stay away from transplants for as long as possible and keep using what you are using. You never know when something better will be discovered and or released. I definitely would not start off with fue unless your family history of hair loss Isn’t that bad. Take a good look at your father’s hair loss and then think about how much donor hair will be available for future procedures, Depending on where he’s at on the Norwood scale should make your final decision. A good doctor will most likely be pushing fut to preserve donor hair for the future procedures and save the fue to the end when you can’t do anymore strips, and will use fue to cover the scar and do some extra fill in. But If you are a good candidate for fue then that’s the best way to go so that there’s no strip scar to worry about. Good luck



    • Yoda on December 9, 2020 at 9:19 am

      HT is a personal opinion Stef. I would only say base your decision on the docs competence as opposed to price or proximity. This is something you’ll live with for the rest of your life. Also, don’t put off thinking the next revolutionary treatment is around the corner, it may or may not be.



  43. Woofy97 on December 9, 2020 at 3:44 am

    Michael “You have to look at your father’s and grandfather’s hair lines to see where they are at” that’s true but also incorrect you can get a hairloss pattern from either side.



    • michael on December 9, 2020 at 9:33 am

      Yes I know that just stating the obvious without trying to go back generations to figure it out. Everything is mostly genetics and it’s somewhat of a guessing game but I would not bother with transplants if my father was already a Norwood 5 or 6 depending on his age of course, you will not be able to cover it down the line unless cloning comes to fruition. Most doctors do not do body hair transplants because of the unnaturalness and instability of the grafts, except for what’s available under jaw line which is very little. Fin and min are not a guarantee or reliable long term solution for everyone, It’s a tough decision either way to start with and continue to chase.



  44. D1 on December 9, 2020 at 6:42 am

    Im not sure the lack of statistical significance in histogens latest data is a problem as the sample size is so small (and its phase i)



    • Nick123 on December 9, 2020 at 10:18 am

      I agree, also if it is the case surely aslong as HST-001 proves safe, histogen can up the dosage?



      • Sonic on December 9, 2020 at 10:28 am

        They could try, but an increase in dosage doesn’t necessarily mean it will have any more of an effect especially if it had such neglible results already



  45. Follicle Thought on December 9, 2020 at 12:02 pm

    Follica news on the Updates page guys https://folliclethought.com/updates/



    • Sonic on December 9, 2020 at 1:40 pm

      Thanks for the Follica update Admin!

      My analysis: From the picture of the only 1 female’s hair I’ve seen, the result looks great! As Woofy said, I wished they’d show more pictures, because we don’t know how far off the other candidates were from such a result. This could just be the best result which is the top 1% exception and may even be unattainable to most.

      Also, I noticed that the pain index was rated by the female candidates on average to be approximately 6.5 out of 10. Which is kinda painful lol.

      Although this picture result looks really good, its mentioned in the scale used that the improvement was only by 1 level up out of 5. Wish it were more. At this current time, sure it’s better than nothing.

      I noticed this treatment works with Minoxidil, so I suppose the downside of this treatment is that when you stop applying Minoxidil, you will lose your gains in hair.

      Could anyone who has knowledge on Follica kindly tell me what makes Follica’s Mirconeedling any different/better than any other Mirconeedling device already out there?



      • Sonic on December 9, 2020 at 2:00 pm

        I answered my own question regarding what makes Follica different from other Micro-needling options currently out there:

        It’s a micro wounding therapy combined with applied compounds which takes place in the clinic.

        I wonder how much of an improvement Follica is from other Micro-needling options that are already available because most people that do Micro-needling do report slight improvements. And Follica is just a slight improvement too



      • Coraline on April 17, 2021 at 11:11 pm

        My daughter is 100% bald since the age of 2. At 17 she used microneedling pen; her scalp hair never grew and her eyebrows fell off. Latisse is great for eyebrows and eyelashes. Onion juice works for eyelashes as well, but so far… nothing has worked for her nude scalp



        • Follicle Thought on April 18, 2021 at 1:46 pm

          So, does she have alopecia totalis Coraline? Has she tried JAK inhibitors?



  46. Woofy97 on December 9, 2020 at 12:38 pm

    Follicle thought I don’t see a big dramatic difference and I wish they would show us more pics. We need a treatment that will give dramatic results.



  47. Mjones on December 9, 2020 at 2:41 pm

    Follica results are ok. I mean the lady didnt have any hair loss to begin with lol. Some thickening in the front



    • Woofy97 on December 9, 2020 at 4:28 pm

      Mjones, true



  48. D1 on December 9, 2020 at 3:22 pm

    a 44% improvement for follica in men is quite a lot. however just microneedling + minoxidil doesnt sound that great. was hoping that it would be something other than minoxidil



  49. D1 on December 9, 2020 at 3:24 pm


    • Woofy97 on December 14, 2020 at 5:05 pm

      If that’s the original serum then they should go back to that.



  50. Sonic on December 9, 2020 at 3:40 pm

    The good thing about the COVID-19 vaccines already rolling out to Europe and USA is that other countries (such as Japan, where J Hewitt is) are going to also start getting the vaccine soon.

    From an article I read from the Japan Times:

    “The Japanese government aims to prepare COVID-19 vaccines, so that all citizens can receive vaccinations by the end of the first half of next year, ahead of the Tokyo Games, which is slated to kick off in July.”

    The good thing about that is, that J. Hewitt will be able to get back to work around mid next year with no more excuses for delays.

    Because by vaccinating the majority of the population in Japan, there will be a phenomenon called” Herd Immunity” so things should look to run smoothly in Japan.

    What that means for us is, J. Hewitt will be back at work and able to find a Cell Processing Company sooner.



    • al.budny on December 26, 2020 at 6:06 am

      Tissuse didnt evev do animal trials for their hair cloning, come on be serious guys:)



      • Sonic on December 26, 2020 at 6:33 am

        Yes, but animal tests are not required in Japan to initiate first in man trials if one can show solid in vitro data proofing safety of the method. Japan is unique here as other countries or regions like the US or Europe would require animal tests. 🙂



  51. Sonic on December 15, 2020 at 12:16 pm

    Hi Admin, just a suggestion. I know many companies like Moogene Medi and others in the pipeline are looking for partnerships/funding so that they speed up research/production/testing and up scaling of their treatments.

    I think it would be a good idea for these companies to get in contact with Celebrities that have been suffering from hairloss or even those that are completely bald because they will easily have the funds. I feel the companies in the pipeline should pitch their proposals to celebrities because there are no shortage of celebrities (male and female) who suffer from hairloss or thinning and especially being in the public eye, it’s even more concerning to celebs especially because their under the most scrutiny. So since they have personal interest they could very likely fund or partner with the hairloss company of their choice.

    For Example, a hairloss company called “Insparya Hair Company” has partnered with ultra celeb Cristiano Ronaldo. Their company offers Hair Transplants but imagine if companies that had better potential treatments/ potential cures got in contact with celebrities! You can imagine how much of further investing a Celeb would draw to the hairloss company as well as spotlight onto the company. It would be a 2 in 1 combo (Funding/partnership + automatic marketing).

    There’s plenty of celebrities who are experiencing hairloss, like LeBron James, even Justin Beibers is experiencing Hair loss and thinning (hence his new relatively terrible hair style – genes from his father probably), famous YouTuber Jake Paul and hundreds of other celebrities who would be highly interested in investing/partnering because they wouldn’t want to go bald and could potentially be in partnership for a multi-billion/trillion dollar treatment which is on the horizon.

    Companies should really work on getting in contact with celebrities and not feel like their out of their league.

    It would be great if you could pass on this message on to the companies in the pipeline Admin. If Cristiano Ronaldo is already doing it, surely if other celebrities are approached they’d also be willing. There’s tons of celebrities to choose from from sport, TV, music, entertainment, fitness, movies, etc. Also, a lot of celebrities aren’t aware of new developments in hairloss besides what’s currently out there (Hair Transplants and Finasteride and Minoxidil). If they could be informed of the treatments in the pipeline it would be fantastic.

    Think about it like this, if you’re a celebrity suffering from hairloss, you wouldn’t be looking at forums about hairloss, you’d have enough money to go straight to the best hairloss doctor/surgeon and get info and they would only sell their services (hair transplant or Finasteride/Minoxidil). Most are probably unaware of whats going to be possible outside of the current treatments.



  52. John Ackerby on December 22, 2020 at 5:30 pm

    This experiment is D-U-M-B. They are using gene editing to tinker with 5AR/DHT even though the world has already had 5 AR inhibitors for a long time and 5ARs produce limited benefit. This is because 5 AR inhibitors only work against one androgen – DHT.

    Androgen receptor blockers work better against hair loss because Androgen receptor blockers negate ALL androgens (DHT, Testosterone, etc) not just DHT.

    Someone needs to tell the staff at Moogene Medi that they need to focus on the androgen receptor rather than 5ARs and DHT.



    • Follicle Thought on December 22, 2020 at 7:08 pm

      What’s your scientific background, if you don’t mind me asking?



  53. Sonic on December 26, 2020 at 6:28 am

    Has anyone tried Saw Palmetto for hair loss? I know Statistically the results aren’t as good as for the *best responders* of Finasteride, but I think Saw Palmetto might be a good alternative to Finasteride especially for those who don’t respond to Finasteride or get side effects from Finasteride. Also, Saw Palmetto is natural.

    Not sure if anyone who’s tried it has experienced side effects or seen any stabilization/ thickening /regrowth?

    Also to note, just because the average results of Saw Palmetto aren’t as effective as the average results as Finasteride, doesn’t mean Saw Palmetto is ineffective, so worth a try.

    Also, I’ve read even 2% Ketoconazole Shampoo can provide significant results for hair loss sufferers. The 1% Nizoral Shampoo can be expensive and it’s not necessary to use 1% Nizoral Shampoo.



  54. Jassa on July 22, 2021 at 8:49 am

    Hey ft.what is status of moogene gene therapy for aga.i don’t know anything about baldness but someone say it is genetic and in our genes.i want to know what difference between balding and non balding people’s dna?which cells are cause of baldness?why does donor area’s hair not loss?can we place donor area’s cell to scalp to stop hair loss?why non balding people’s does not face balding?what is difference in their and our balding people’s genes?does dermal papila cell gene editing have any effect on our body except our hair growth?is there any permanent option which can block the interaction between androgen receptor and dht?is there any option which can make hair follicle dht resistant?in my country there is a barber who can regrow hair by just shave the head.he is blessed by god gift.i have experience and its really regrow my hair on scalp but due to genetic reason these regrowed hair again loss.i do not know anything about the baldness.please help me to know the reason.and please forward jazz’s comment to moogene scientist because ar gene variation and dht sensitivity is msin reason for hair loss.please reply brother



    • Follicle Thought on July 22, 2021 at 11:20 am

      Hi Jassa, Moogene is still working towards their therapy. I’ve passed on the message previously to have Moogene read the comments. We’ll have to let them move forward with their project and hope for the best. With luck we will get a next gen therapy from them.



  55. Jassa on July 22, 2021 at 9:31 am

    Addition to previous comment,please contact moogene scientists again about blocking interaction between androgen receptor and dht.blocking dht production will side effects like finasteride.please talk about this.difference between donor and scalp dermal papila cell or difference between balding and non balding people’s dermal papilla cell dna can clear the cause of hair loss.please talk them about this ti analyse these differences in donor and scalp and balding and non balding people dna to cure.dht production blocking risk and blocking binding of androgen receptor and dht in hair follicle.please bro reply and contact them.i want cure of baldness in my life.its emotional torture for me.you can access them but i have no approach to reach them please do something for us baldness suffering people.lots of hope



  56. KY on February 12, 2022 at 12:10 pm

    hi, is there something new about crispr-cas9 therapy ?



    • Follicle Thought on February 12, 2022 at 3:56 pm

      By the end of Spring, all but guaranteed I will have an important update.



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