Hair loss news first:
— We start with Samumed and its Turkish CEO Osman Kibar being featured in a Forbes magazine cover page story and article that everyone was talking about last week. Turkish media also picked up on the story. I did not realize that Mr. Kibar was such a good poker player (I do not agree with some hair loss forum members that winning and placing second in his first two tournaments is just luck, especially considering that the second tournament had 3,000 participants). More importantly, I did not know that Samumed is potentially valued at $12 billion (so Mr. Kibar is worth $4 billion with his one-third ownership stake), an unreal number for a company with somewhat unproven products and potential. Further proof that the biotech sector is extremely overvalued. As far as Samumed’s SM04554 hair loss product goes, the article does not divulge anything new that would raise my optimism level above what I gauged in my last post on the subject.
— Two weeks after I write the most sarcastic and innuendo filled post that I have ever written on this blog, the main subject matter in that post actually makes what seems to be a logical and wise move! Thorn Medical bought a majority stake in Okyanos Holding, the leading stem cell therapy center in the Bahamas. In that sarcastic post from two weeks ago, I pegged Okyanos as being legitimate. Note that Dr. Irum Khan’s website has now also been revamped with some additional information on how she adds stem cells during a FUE hair transplant procedure.
— Two important studies were published in Japan in the past several weeks. One on the never-before-heard-by-any-normal-human-being topical penta-peptide Gly-Pro-Ile-Gly-Ser (GPIGS) and another on the somewhat less esoteric Wnt-10b.
— The UK’s Mirror had an excellent article on the dangers of getting bad hair transplants and the importance of picking an experienced surgeon and adviser (in this case, Spex of the Bald Truth UK radio show fame).
— Pfizer and Allergan have scrapped their merger plans after US tax rule changes limited potential benefits. I mention this news because Allergan has two important hair loss treatment drugs in the pipeline in Bimatoprost and Setipiprant (search the “Categories” menu on this blog for posts on those products).
— New positive PRP and hair growth study from Spain.
— Histogen’s Gail Naughton will be making a presentation for 25 minutes in Boston at the 5th Stem Cell Product Development and Commercialization Conference on April 27th at 2:15 pm.
— Hasson & Wong updated their topical Finasteride page at the end of March.
— Yet more speculation that Elon Musk has had a hair transplant.
— French spiderman climbs an office tower to call attention to hair loss. Well done monsieur. The French are supposed to be among the best in the world at realizing the important things in life: for example, hair loss day was celebrated/mourned in the country on March 24th 2016 per the last sentence of that article.
— Someone from the HLT forums asked me via e-mail to help in publicizing a group buy of ingredients to make Dr. Brotzu’s lotion. I never participate in group buys, and I do not like posting about them since I do not want to be responsible in case someone purchases a dangerous ingredient from some unreliable international vendor. Nevertheless, I will make an exception here and encourage blog readers to visit this link and decide for themselves. As always, I am not a doctor or medical professional, and I take zero responsibility in case the group buy ends up being something illegal. I have done no research about the ingredients involved in this group buy.
And now on to medical items of interest:
— Salamander’s are known for their limb regenerative abilities. And now, a team from Australia claims that a stem cell therapy that is capable of regenerating any human tissue damaged by injury, disease, or aging could be available within a few years due to the development of new techniques.
— Garage labs of DIY gene hackers. I want my own, but am not rich enough to quit working, and am a bit lazy to learn something so different from my day job. Hopefully some day.
— Implant lets paralyzed man play guitar. I suspect that hair loss and paralysis could both be cured around the same time by the end of 2020 at the latest.
— Mind transfer to a computer very possible by 2050. Very popular story on Reddit based on number of comments, but I think they have this same kind of mind uploading story every single month.
— The convergence of programming and biology.
— Two new breakthroughs in diabetes treatment: one makes sense, but the other is a bit of a surprise. For probably the 4th time on this blog, I will repeat that the UK’s much maligned gossip rag “The Daily Mail” seems to be at the forefront of covering important hair loss and medical news stories. I am always impressed by them.
— Gene therapy that restores eyesight in some to be tested on humans. Everyone seems to be having an easier time moving from testing on animals to testing on humans in comparison to hair loss researchers and companies:-(
— First 3D printed drug Spritam (for epilepsy treatment) now FDA approved for sale in the US.