Hairloss FAQ - Hairloss Treatments Being Researched By John Ertel May 1, 1999

There are many treatments currently being researched for hairloss. Unfortunately, most are not expected to be available for a few years and while they are supposed to be BETTER agents for treatment, they are not cures for baldness.

Dual 5-Alpha Reductase Inhibitors

These treatments are based on the same theory as Propecia, which is inhibiting the enzyme that creates DHT.  The newer treatments will inhibit both forms of this enzyme from 90-98% (compared to Proscar & Propecia at 60-66% reduction).  These treatments are currently under clinical trials necessary for FDA approval and will not be available for the next 2-7 years.

Pyrimidine N Oxides

This is a generic class of growth stimulators similar to Minoxidil. Many patents have been issued for different N Oxides, but not a lot is known on what the current status is, since companies do not like to publish results until they are almost ready to go to market. Just this January, 1997 one of the large drug companies received a new patent for a Pyrmidine N Oxide formula for hairloss, so apparently these are effective enough for large companies to keep researching, patenting, and studying. Unfortunately, it usually takes many years after a product is patented to get FDA approval, so these drugs are probably several years down the line.

One of these Pyrimidine N Oxide products was released at the end of 1996 in Europe. The product's brand name Dercap and the generic name of the drug is Aminexil (2,4-Diaminopyrimidine-3-oxide). According to the company, it is an alterted form of minoxidil (2,4-Diamino-6-piperidinyl-pyrimidine-3-oxide) without the side effects. It was clinically tested in hospitals across europe and by the Swiss equivalent of the FDA and shown to be effective. Results include an 8% increase in growth phase hairs after 6 weeks of treatment compared to a decrease in the percentage of growth phase hairs in those on placebo in trials over over 250 men & women. You can find more information on Dercap/Aminexil here.

Other Superoxide Dismutases / Metal Binding Peptides

There are also many patents on the superoxide dismutase class of hair growth stimulators created from metal binded peptide complexes. Companies such as Proctor and Gamble also have patents on these types of agents.

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