AndroScience's Androgenic Receptor Degradation Compound

[Guest HLBD]

A company called AndoScience has entered clinical trials for a compound called ASC-J9. This compound, they claim, has a novel effect on DHT receptors. As opposed to the typical approach to halting hair loss and even some acne treatments has always been to lower systemic DHT or topically repress levels of DHT in a localized area such as the scalp.

 

AndroScience claims that their compound actually damages or degrades the DHT receptor sites on the skin and in the hair follicle. If the compound is successful, it could make hair DHT resistant or even immune to the effects of DHT.

 

Now, I don't want people to get too excited over this, as I have seen none of the science to back-up what the company claims to have created; however, I think that everyone will admit that it is a unique and perhaps groundbreaking approach as it takes an offensive approach (damaging the very cause of hormonal hair loss) as opposed to the defensive approach of propecia, avodart, and minoxidil.

 

No one is claiming this to be a "cure" for MPB, but it would - if it works as claimed - be a very good adjunct to defensive measures and hair transplantation. It could end-up being the best treatment to hit the market, if released re-compounded for MPB (this seems very likely as the company considers this compound a treatment for both acne and MPB). It is necessary to note that it seem they are first seeking approval as an acne treatment because they have just won a grant to do so. It is also important to mention that the company does seem to realize that they could make a great deal more money from an effective MPB treatment than from an acne treatment and seem to be positioning themselves to use the grant money to back both the acne treatment (publically, this is all they back), but to tack-on the MPB treatment implications without spending too much of their own money. All they would need to do is re-compound and resubmit to the FDA.

 

The company is stating that this compound has no known side effects for either the treatment of MPB or acne - which, if true, means the FDA will be a lot more receptive to its use in medical treatments (especially if it has already proven to be safe and effective in acne treatments.)

 

Now, there are some probable limitations to the treatment:

 

1) If you are not suffering from hormonal hairloss (Androgenic Alopecia), it is unlikely that this treatment will be effective.

 

2) If hormonal alopecia is not the only factor in your hair loss, the effect will be minimal. Keep in mind that many, including experts and reseachers (and they have studies to back it up), believe that DHT is not the only cause of MPB or hair loss in general.

 

3) If you have not responded to other anti-androgenic treatments, you may not respond or may have a lesser response to this treatment.

 

4) Most likely side effects will be the same as any topical treatment, like minoxidil: scalp irritation probably being the main side effect.

 

So, what do you guys think? Is this the nextt big treatment? Like I said, I like the "outside-of-the-box" thinking, but I haven't seen any hard science to back it up. But, even if this compund doesn't work, maybe they are on to a new approach that another reseach and development company can use in the future.

 

Here are some links:

 

http://www.androscience.com

 

http://news.hairlosshelp.com/hair-loss-news/new-hair-lo...t-under-development/

[Guest HLBD]

A company called AndoScience has entered clinical trials for a compound called ASC-J9. This compound, they claim, has a novel effect on DHT receptors. As opposed to the typical approach to halting hair loss and even some acne treatments has always been to lower systemic DHT or topically repress levels of DHT in a localized area such as the scalp.

 

AndroScience claims that their compound actually damages or degrades the DHT receptor sites on the skin and in the hair follicle. If the compound is successful, it could make hair DHT resistant or even immune to the effects of DHT.

 

Now, I don't want people to get too excited over this, as I have seen none of the science to back-up what the company claims to have created; however, I think that everyone will admit that it is a unique and perhaps groundbreaking approach as it takes an offensive approach (damaging the very cause of hormonal hair loss) as opposed to the defensive approach of propecia, avodart, and minoxidil.

 

No one is claiming this to be a "cure" for MPB, but it would - if it works as claimed - be a very good adjunct to defensive measures and hair transplantation. It could end-up being the best treatment to hit the market, if released re-compounded for MPB (this seems very likely as the company considers this compound a treatment for both acne and MPB). It is necessary to note that it seem they are first seeking approval as an acne treatment because they have just won a grant to do so. It is also important to mention that the company does seem to realize that they could make a great deal more money from an effective MPB treatment than from an acne treatment and seem to be positioning themselves to use the grant money to back both the acne treatment (publically, this is all they back), but to tack-on the MPB treatment implications without spending too much of their own money. All they would need to do is re-compound and resubmit to the FDA.

 

The company is stating that this compound has no known side effects for either the treatment of MPB or acne - which, if true, means the FDA will be a lot more receptive to its use in medical treatments (especially if it has already proven to be safe and effective in acne treatments.)

 

Now, there are some probable limitations to the treatment:

 

1) If you are not suffering from hormonal hairloss (Androgenic Alopecia), it is unlikely that this treatment will be effective.

 

2) If hormonal alopecia is not the only factor in your hair loss, the effect will be minimal. Keep in mind that many, including experts and reseachers (and they have studies to back it up), believe that DHT is not the only cause of MPB or hair loss in general.

 

3) If you have not responded to other anti-androgenic treatments, you may not respond or may have a lesser response to this treatment.

 

4) Most likely side effects will be the same as any topical treatment, like minoxidil: scalp irritation probably being the main side effect.

 

So, what do you guys think? Is this the nextt big treatment? Like I said, I like the "outside-of-the-box" thinking, but I haven't seen any hard science to back it up. But, even if this compund doesn't work, maybe they are on to a new approach that another reseach and development company can use in the future.

 

Here are some links:

 

http://www.androscience.com

 

http://news.hairlosshelp.com/hair-loss-news/new-hair-lo...t-under-development/

[calvinmd]

The idea of a topical that might actually be effective for more than half a day per-use is absolutely intoxicating.

 

That's not just hair regrowth. That's actually being FREED of a little piece of this MPB sentence.

 

 

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[Guest HLBD]

I agree, calvinmd, I also like the idea of attacking MPB where it lives (so to speak).

 

There is a chance that this compound, if effective, could permanently damage the receptor sites on some follicles and make said follicle immune to DHT. I can just see myself laughing manically as I slather the stuff on, then tee-peeing my fingers to say, "EXCELLENT!"

[Badger]

This sounds pretty cool,

The fact that there are no, as yet known side affects makes this seem within reach. I can't help to wonder what kinds of results the clinical phases will yield. No doubt they'll vary among different individuals.

Who knows, used in conjunction with minoxidil, and or wnt/dermabrasion treatments (when/if theat happens), could really bring about regrowth. This could be good.

This sounds like that drug they were developing in France in the 90's, RU 48871.

[Badger]

This is something i found there a while back. Some of you are more then likely already aware of it.

 

RU 58841 is an anti androgen that binds to the hormonal receptor sites on the follicles, and prevents the binding of Dehydro-Testosterone. Its "affinity" to the receptor sites is much stronger than that of the hormones, making it very effective. This is why RU 58841 holds a great deal of promise as a hair loss treatment. Lack of financial potential is probably the reason for the limited extent of research done on it so far. As long as there is no considerable research conducted, it is unlikely it will become widespread and accessible hair loss treatment. Getting a hold of it at this time is very difficult, and those who succeed pay a great deal of money for it. In the Research and studies section there is reference to research that tested the effectiveness of RU 58841 in macaque Androgenetic Alopecia, and the pictures in it practically speak for themselves.

 

Faith-Eagle (http://www.faitheaglepharm.com) is a Chinese lab that produces RU 58841 by or

[Bill - Seemiller]

Very interesting research...both regarding ACS-J9 and RU 58841.

 

Of course, we must keep things in perspective as HLBD indicates...a company claim in itself should not cause us to become too excited. Seeing the evidence that a product works with minimal or no side effects is ultimately what we should be looking for.

 

BUT...the research could be promising.

 

It appears from the research, that treatment/cures for baldness are being looked at from different angles. From what I gather, we have the following:

 

1. DHT inhibitors (ACS-J9 and RU 58841 as two potential examples). Finasteride to date is the only DHT inhibitor that has proven to be somewhat effective

2. Hair multiplication/cloning. Unlike the first, there is no alteration to any of the chemicals of the body, but instead cloning DHT resistant hairs and injecting them into the scalp where hair has been lost (10+ years away)

3. WNT proteins (such as beta-catenin and others in the WNT signaling pathway). The addition of WNT proteins to mature skin cells may cause these cells to respond as embryonic cells and grow hair. Research is still being done on mice and has not reached the human level. Apparently any lack of control while applying these WNTs proteins to the cell could potentially cause several type of cancer.

 

Did I miss any?

 

Clearly much more research is needed, but it is all exciting to see.

 

Bill

[Guest HLBD]

To be fair, Bill, AndroScience's compound - ACS-J9 - is not claiming to be a DHT inhibitor. It does not in anyway effect the DHT in the body or on the scalp and therefore it would not be altering your hormone balance. It would, however if the claims are to be believed, inhibit DHT's effect on some if not all of the follicles on which it is applied. Classic hormonal approaches, like finasteride, are called inhibitors as they actually do block some amount of the production of DHT. So, it is not true, as you have mentioned with HM, that it would alter the chemicals of the body. From the very little information on RU 58841, it would appear that it would not alter your body chemistry either.

 

I don't know much about RU 58841, but I'm really skeptical about it. The idea that they believe that they cannot make money off of "the closest thing to a cure we have seen" is more than a little fishy. After all, from the figures I've seen, we spend more money on MOB research than we do on AIDS research. Propecia still makes about $387 million world-wide. It sound like viral marketing to me: using rumors to build word-of-mouth and jack-up the price of something that may do little or nothing.

 

I think the reason to be skeptical of both is that there is no hard scientific evidence behind either, other than the fact that they claim to block or damage DHT receptor sites in the follicle. The most interesting part of this research, for me, is that - if it works as claimed - you would be able to avoid the effects of DHT without altering the chemicals in your body (topically or systemically).

[Bill - Seemiller]

HLBD,

 

Thanks for the additional information. That makes sense. So these compounds don't actually reduce the amount of DHT in the body, however will inhibit the effects of DHT on certain hair follicles. I would love to see more of the science of this, IF/WHEN they actually release it.

 

I think we need to be skeptical at this point. Until the science is unleashed/revealed, there is no reason to take a companies claim that a product will do something. After all, there are a number of scams out there that claim the same thing!

 

But I'm fascinated by the research.

 

Bill

[calvinmd]

It's difficult not to get excited about this stuff.

 

If ACS-J9 turns out to be even somewhat effective at what it's purported to do, then it's already right up there with the existing Holy Trinity of MPB meds.

 

 

Blocking the androgen receptors in the hair follicles would function the same way that DHT inhibitors work right now. So by that logic, ACS-J9 would most likely be effective on all the same men that finasteride is effective on. And without any hormonal side effects.

 

 

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