CRF Signaling And Hair Growth

Summary

UCLA researchers in the department of Medicine have developed a novel method to treat hair loss and potentially circumvent the common complications that rise from current treatments.

Background

It is estimated that over 30 million individuals in the U.S. alone are currently suffering from a form of hair loss. While there have been many attempts to combat this growing issue, there are currently only two FDA approved hair loss treatments: Finasteride (Propecia) and Minoxidol (Rogaine).  These treatments are generally low efficaciously and require extended treatments. Recent efforts have been undertaken to expand the list if treatments for hair loss, but those that have been moved to clinical trial are also sporadic in efficacy.  Therefore, there is a significant need for the development of new and more efficacious treatments for hair loss.

Innovation

Dr. Tache at UCLA has discovered a novel treatment pathway for hair loss.  Through the use of agonistic drugs, the pathway can be deregulated to limit the amount of cortisol induced signaling at the site of effected hair follicles.  The major benefit to this treatment is its observed one-time application potency to treating hair loss.  This treatment strategy could therefore replace the current gold standards of treatment, while also reaching a larger individual base for hair loss treatment.

Applications

• Treatment of hair loss in individuals that are not responders to common therapies like Propecia or Rogaine

Advantages

• The first in class treatment of hair loss that relies on a one-time treatment
• Generally higher efficacy than the current most used treatments

State Of Development

The invention has conceptual and preclinical mouse study data in a severe hair loss model of Cushing’s Syndrome.

Patent Status

Related Materials

• Wang L, Million M, Rivier J, Rivier C, Craft N, et al. (2011) CRF Receptor Antagonist Astressin-B Reverses and Prevents Alopecia in CRF Over-Expressing Mice. PLoS ONE 6(2): e16377. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0016377

Limitations