Ok, here is the deal. First of all I will warn you that I cannot substantiate ANYTHING that I'm writing here, but if you've looked at my posts for the past couple of years you can probably tell that I am not the time of person who gets my kicks by making up stuff online (actually I am, but hair loss is something that I actually take very seriously).

When I'm reading this stuff I'm always impatient for the substance of the post, so I'll give that to you first, and then I'll give you the background info and try to convince you of the degree of reliability afterwards.

Quick summary: In 16 months a new drug is coming out, and results have been very positive. I was told all the guys who took it got a full head of hair. I can only assume she was exaggerating when she said " all the guys" since she wouldn't tell me it was coming out if it hadn't already had Phase II trials, and yet in Phase II trials the sample size should be large enough that there's at least one unlucky fellow who doesn't get results. I thought about jokingly asking if I could get involved in Phase II trials, now I wish I had, as she probably could have clarified this last bit for me if I had.

Full story:

This may be way too long for you, but sorry, I thought it would be most fair to try to give those trying to seriously analyze the reliability of the informant, and myself, considering there is sooooo much BS out there on the internet.

Anyways, so I decided I was going to try to get a prescription of Avodart from some kind of hair specialist, so I call up these places that I found on a google search in my area. (FYI: dont try to get Avodart, or prob anything else from Bosley, that place is a business office, not a medical facility, and they don't want to slow your hair loss because then they don't get their customer). One place that I called happened to be a reputable place. I know it is a reputable place because the hair department is just a small branch of the larger medical facility which has a brand name that is very well known to anybody in my area, and probably some knowledgable people who live far away, too. This is not a place trying to suck your money out, infact they didn't return my call after I left a message (made during regular business hours) I think until late the next afternoon. And at the end of the convo she encouraged me not to come in b/c it would cost hundreds of $ for a visit (cosmetic, not covered by insurance) probably all they could do is do a test to see if infact my reason for hair loss was MPB (my dad's bald, so she said 9/10 chance it was). I got the feeling that this woman had a good deal of knowledge, and even information which was not made public, but I also got the impression that she did not choose her words as carefully as someone like a medical expert typically would, (like when she said all the guys who took it grew a full head of hair as mentioned above seems to me to be an exaggeration). So I bring up this idea that I want to get Avodart since I read this thing about a new (albeit small test sized) study. Then she explains Avodart to me as if I've never heard of the drug, and I say (and obviously these quotes are all to the best of my memory) "Yeah, but Dutasteride [Avodart] blocks two types of DHT, and Finasteride [Propecia] only blocks one."
Her: "There isn't any conclusive evidence that Avodart is any better than Propecia, I mean there have been some studies for Avodart and they say, 'yeah it grows hair,' but you're not going to get any better results with that than with Propecia." (Could be true, but it could be that they just don't like prescribing risky drugs with unforseen side-effects to young people who don't need them for medical reasons.)

Me: Well, uh, I read about this study done on this website called baldingblog.com.

She laughs, so i ask "oh i take it you've heard of that site?" I got the impression that she's heard quite a few callers reference it before. and she says "yeah, if you trace those sites they all track back to the drug companies." This is an instance where I think she spoke too quick. I now feel like there's a reasonable chance she's never heard of baldingblog.com she just assumes it's like all the other BS websites out there, b/c that site seems pretty legit to me, and the guy running it has not been pushing Avodart AT ALL and only mildly supported it after this last study. Then she drops the ball: she tells me that in 16 months a new drug is coming out that has had tremendous results in curing baldness. Full head of hair, yada yada. I can only assume that it's a pill she's talking about. "what's the name of the drug?" It doesn't have a name yet "No, I mean what's the name of the actual drug, the medical name that they use in testing and research?" She won't tell me that. I don't schedule an appointment of course since she's given me several honest reasons not to come in, but I thank her for her help, and she says, "just keep taking propecia and rogaine, that will slow your hairloss, and then in 16 months when this drug comes out, get it"

So for me, I have a pretty reliable tip here. For you, you just have some hearsay written on a hairloss message board. Sorry, I can't do much to substantiate what I'm saying for all you out there. I don't feel comfortable telling you the name of the place because I'm not sure if she was even supposed to tell me a new drug was coming out at all. Don't ask me to tell you the name of the place. And if any of you have money invested in companies trying to develope HM. You may want to reconsider (although I'd think those companies would know at least as much as I do, and would stop pursuing HM research if they thought a drug was going to come out to make their procedure obsolete). She really made this sound like a wonder drug, so hopefully it is something resembling such a thing. And also, hopefully somebody doing a search on these boards won't find this post two years from today and laugh....or cry (i.e. that the words would not come true) like I did when I saw all these posts saying HM was three years away....in 2002.

Hmmm...not a hell of a lot to go on. I suppose anything is possible, but I would not put too much hope on this being true. Usually a drug undergoes several phase trials before release. I routinely check the FDA archives for any pending trials and have found nothing to note anything in the works. If it would be released in 16 months it would be in Phase III trials by now, but they do not have anything listed, not even in Phase II or I.

Perhaps this is being tested in a foreign country. I know for a fact that there is one drug that is available for licensing in Europe by a research company as an "anti androgen", I have heard through reliable sources that it is an old French drug called RU 58841 that has been sitting in limbo since the 90's. This drug has been termed the as the closest thing to the cure for MPB ever developed. In fact I know of several individuals who have obtained this and compounded their own solutions with amazing results.

I guess the only thing to do is just sit and wait and see if these predictions come to pass. In the meanwhile I will continue to fight to keep what I have until something better comes out.

__________________
1,000,000 FUT
DR. MOBOGO
WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN

Great information........wish there was a least a tidbit of info to go on though.

'Course, after all the $$ I've spent on HT's in 16 months I could find out I spent it in vain!! LOL!

Anyway, if anyone has heard anything more about this please post..........though I suspect if anyone here had they would have posted about it by now since we're all obssessed with this hair thing!

__________________
Hairbank

1st HT 1-18-05 - 1200 FUT's
2nd HT 2-15-06 - 3886 FUT's Dr. Wong
3rd HT 4-24-08 - 2415 FUT's Dr. Wong

GRAND TOTAL: 7501 GRAFTS

current regimen: 1.25mg finasteride every other day

My Hair Loss Weblog

Disclaimer: I'm not a Doctor (and have never played one on TV ) and have no medical training. Any information I share here is in an effort to help those who don't like hair loss.

Hmmm, is it possible that they have it listed, but don't tell what it is for? Or they keep it secret from the public somehow? I'm not sure why they'd do that. I know this info sounds real sketchy, but I'm telling you this came from a division of a well-known legit institution. If somebody there is misleading me that would be a tragedy. It would be way unprofessional for someone from this place to do that, but then again perhaps it was unprofessional to even tell me a drug was going to be out in 16 months in the first place, considering it doesn't appear to be public knowledge.

Oh, and cousinit, how do you check the patent archives? Is there a website?

Misleading....in the hair loss industry... absolutely unthinkable!!

Maybe they will be releasing whatever it is as a "cosmetic". A lot of products get on the market this way, they just will not be able to say it grows hair, just "makes your hair look fuller" or some other BS.

__________________
1,000,000 FUT
DR. MOBOGO
WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN

Jack...

Those areas of the FDA's site are not normally open to the public. I happen to work at a research institution, so I have access to a large database of unpublished and pay per view info. But rest assured,if anything ever shows up you guys will be the first to know about it.

__________________
1,000,000 FUT
DR. MOBOGO
WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN

Damn man, if they don't even show up in your files then that's a bad sign. How long before Propecia came out did people know about it? Damn, now I want to go back on Avodart again.

Take a look at the post I put up on the immune system, help may be closer than you think. Theorectically, you may be even be able to start something like this before it is formally released.

__________________
1,000,000 FUT
DR. MOBOGO
WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN

I'm not sure I understand... why is this company name and/or information so hush-hush? I'm not trying to be difficult, it just seems like this is being treated like area 51. I'm sure if the woman knew her job was on the line, she wouldn't be running her mouth about some secret drug? Or wouldn't be blabbing if it were some kind of danger to do so?

yeah, i see your POV, but just to be safe i felt i should omit that stuff. it seems to me that it would be stupid for her to tell that if she's not supposed to, but i couldn't find any info about it on a google search, so i have to consider the possibility that she gave me info out of sympathy that wasn't meant to be broadcast on the internets.