Aderans Research Institute Inc (ARI), has achieved a significant milestone in Phase 2 of its cell-based hair regeneration study by treating the trial’s 100th hair loss subject. In the coming months, the study will double the number of participants.

So far, the study has been conducted in eight US cities and will likely comprise up to 16 US metro areas. In Phase 2 of the hair regeneration study, the trial will be testing a number of regiments designed to achieve a hair cell regeneration. In the treatment, cells are extracted from hair-bearing tissue and new cells are cultivated in a laboratory and reintroduced to the scalp where they are expected to grow.

In Phase 1 of the study in the UK, more than 30% of subjects being treated with the new hair regeneration technology showed a response to the technique, though the growth response was negligible and the test group quite small. Current, hair transplant surgery seems to be the only reliable technique for restoring hair.
ARI purchased the technological assets of its main competitor in cell regeneration technology applied to hair
regrowth, Intercytex of the UK.

Pat Hennessy, publisher of HairTransplantNetwork.com, visited Intercytex operations in the spring of 2007 and has said:

“While they appeared to have good management and promising preliminary results, their subsequent Phase II testing on humans failed to produce cosmetically significant hair regrowth. It’s suggested that the key to success may lie in growing stem cells in vitro to a hair follicle stage and then transplanting the hair follicles using today’s state of the art surgical hair restoration techniques.”

In purchasing Intercytex, Aderans hopes to accelerate their own hair regeneration efforts. “This acquisition is a major step forward for ARI,” said Vern Liebmann, Vice President, Operations. “Through this deal, we’ve been able to consolidate the majority of key patents and know-how in the hair regeneration field, an achievement that can accelerate our ability to deliver a commercially viable product to market.

Tags | aderans/bosley, hair multiplication, intercytex