Intercytex has updated their site

[wotsthedeal]

I dropped by the Intercytex website today and found that it had changed since the last time I was there. For starters, they have put up a little graphic showing some of their products and how far along they are:

http://www.intercytex.com/icx/products/pipeline/

They also go into a little more description about their hair multiplication and the research that they have already completed on it:

http://www.intercytex.com/icx/products/ ... ic/icxtrc/

Phase I clinical trials (safety) have been completed in seven volunteers at a single UK transplant centre. No safety issues have arisen and five out of the seven patients have shown increased hair numbers. A high dose trial will commence in the UK during the first half of 2005, this will be followed by a multi-centre Phase II clinical trial on patients with male pattern baldness. The Phase II trial is planned for the first half of 2006 and will be performed in both the UK and US. A Phase III trial for both male pattern baldness and female diffuse alopecia is planned for 2007.

 

[elguapo]

Thanks for the update.

What does this mean (bottom of the page from the first link):

"All Intercytex’ products are derived from whole human cells which are not genetically modified, embryonic or stem cells."

How are the products "derived" from whole human cells that aren't related to stem cells, and how are they effective if they aren't related to stem cells? Sounds like pretty advanced sh*t to me!

 

[Fallout Boy]

Lets say Phase III succesfully was completed at the end of 2007 .. and everything was a success .. how soon after do you think it would be released to the public?? Very soon? or are there more obsitcles or more stuff they would need to do before it could be released to the public?? any guesses?

 

[stax]

I would say 10 years MAX before this or some other cure came out perfected but hopefully in 5 or 6 years this will be out.

Here's a question: What if i still have my hair because propecia is holding on to it when this treatment comes out and i want to drop finasteride. Would i have to see if i start balding then get this proceedure done or can i have these cells injected into my scalp while i have hair and the new DHT resistant hairs will grow while my original DHT prone hairs fall out? Becuase i wouldnt want to lose my hair first for me to have this treatment done and i wouldnt want to keep taking finasteride when this comes out. Any thoughts?

 

[wotsthedeal]

stax, no you would not have to wait. I've read in quite a few places that until actual genetic therapy comes along, hair multiplication can be used simply to thicken up the hair of people with extensive family history of baldness, before any balding becomes apparent.

I would guess that if everything goes to plan (which it seems to be, keep your fingers crossed), we should see Bosley commercializing hair multiplication in 2009 or 2010.

I also think, however, that hair multiplication could be available before then from other, foreign sources. Dr. Gho and Dr. Bazan have promised hair multiplication in the next year - we'll see if these promises are real or not fairly soon.

 

[stax]

wotsthedeal, thanks for the reply and thats great news (hopefully), but you said hair multiplication should be available in 2010 but dont you mean stem cell injections where they inject stem cells in your scalp and new hair follicles grow? Also do you think they will have it perfected so it will work on the hairline or would you need to do FUE for the hairline?

 

[Fallout Boy]

Most likely youre going to need FUE ... and i think HM is Injecting cells into your scalp . . . Stax what do you think HM is??

 

[stax]

fallout bot, i though hair multiplication was when they took some donour hair from the non DHT sensative part of your scalp, multiplied it, then transplanted it back into your head not injecting it.

Why would this stem cells injection not work on the hairline? How far behind your hairline would you need FUE and how far behind your hairline will these stem cells work?

 

[wotsthedeal]

Yes, HM is the injecting of cells into the scalp - these cells build new follicles and the follicles start producing hair. About the hairline - I'm not sure, I don't think anyone is very sure actually. If these companies have a way to give people back full heads of hair, but that require FUE, I'm sure they'll release it, but if they could perfect the technology so that the hair would grow correctly without FUE being needed, I'm sure they'd love to do that too. I would guess that when HM first comes out, FUE will be needed to some degree to fix up the hairline, but as the technology develops, we'll be able to get the cells injected and be done with it.

 

[wotsthedeal]

stax, the reason the injections might not work on the hairline is it is hard to guess how much density you'll get and how much ground you'll cover with an injection. You can inject some hair follicle cells into a spot on someone's scalp and not be able to tell exactly where the hair is going to grow, so for some people this could lead to the hairline looking very funky.

As for your other question, HM does indeed involve culturing and then injection of cells. The surgeons will take a small piece of NON-DHT scalp, take cells from them, and culture those cells for a period of time (a few weeks). Once this culturing in the petri dish is done, these new cells get injected with a needle back into the patient's scalp. A few weeks later, these cells have become follicles and the follicles begin to produce new hair. At least that's the way it's SUPPOSED to work.

 

[elguapo]

Yeah, what's this 5 out of 7 business all about? I thought this was the real deal!