Sorry if this has already been posted. I did a search and I couldn't find it.
Osteoscreen were awarded a US Patent for this compound in May (#7223554). This gives us some insight into how it might work. Unfortunately, it doesn't tell us how effective it will (or won't) be. It does give us an idea of what they're trying to do though.
"Inhibitors of proteasomal activity, and to some extent inhibitors of NF-.kappa.B activity, have two important physiological effects... Second, both of these inhibitors stimulate the production of hair follicles and are thus useful in stimulating hair growth, including hair density, in subject where this is desirable."
"Two accepted agents currently used for the treatment of hair loss are the antihypertensive drug Minoxidil and the 5.alpha.-reductase inhibitor Finasteride. Neither is entirely satisfactory. Both suffer from modest efficacy and are inconvenient to administer. A specific, topically active and easy to administer compound with better efficacy than these agents would represent a marked advance."
[Heh, yeah, it certainly would.]
"The present invention discloses convenient assays for compounds that will be useful in... stimulating hair growth. The assays involve inhibition of the activity of the transcription factor NF-.kappa.B or of the activity of proteasomal proteases, preferably proteasomal proteases. Compounds which inhibit these activities are generally useful in treating hair growth disorders... Compounds that inhibit the production of the transcription factor and these proteases will also be useful in the invention. Their ability to do so can be further confirmed by additional assays."
"The present invention adds to the repertoire of... hair growth stimulating agents by providing drugs which would inhibit key proteins and enzymes involved in proteasomal activity and which decrease the activity of the nuclear transcription factor NF-.kappa.B, and thus stimulate... hair growth. In accordance with the present invention, we have discovered that inhibition of the functions of the proteasomal proteins... leads to... hair follicle formation and stimulation; the effect on hair is also exhibited by inhibitors of NF-.kappa.B. Thus, assessing a candidate compound for its ability to inhibit proteasomal proteins or NF-.kappa.B provides a useful means to identify... hair growth anabolic agents."
The patent application goes into a lot more detail and it's kind of beyond me. Keep in mind that they try to frame these as widely as possible so they cover all their bases. So some of what is in there may be speculative. Still, it's interesting.
It's awkward to link to the exact document, but if you go here: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html and search for 7223554 as the patent number it will come up.
Osteoscreen were awarded a US Patent for this compound in May (#7223554). This gives us some insight into how it might work. Unfortunately, it doesn't tell us how effective it will (or won't) be. It does give us an idea of what they're trying to do though.
"Inhibitors of proteasomal activity, and to some extent inhibitors of NF-.kappa.B activity, have two important physiological effects... Second, both of these inhibitors stimulate the production of hair follicles and are thus useful in stimulating hair growth, including hair density, in subject where this is desirable."
"Two accepted agents currently used for the treatment of hair loss are the antihypertensive drug Minoxidil and the 5.alpha.-reductase inhibitor Finasteride. Neither is entirely satisfactory. Both suffer from modest efficacy and are inconvenient to administer. A specific, topically active and easy to administer compound with better efficacy than these agents would represent a marked advance."
[Heh, yeah, it certainly would.]
"The present invention discloses convenient assays for compounds that will be useful in... stimulating hair growth. The assays involve inhibition of the activity of the transcription factor NF-.kappa.B or of the activity of proteasomal proteases, preferably proteasomal proteases. Compounds which inhibit these activities are generally useful in treating hair growth disorders... Compounds that inhibit the production of the transcription factor and these proteases will also be useful in the invention. Their ability to do so can be further confirmed by additional assays."
"The present invention adds to the repertoire of... hair growth stimulating agents by providing drugs which would inhibit key proteins and enzymes involved in proteasomal activity and which decrease the activity of the nuclear transcription factor NF-.kappa.B, and thus stimulate... hair growth. In accordance with the present invention, we have discovered that inhibition of the functions of the proteasomal proteins... leads to... hair follicle formation and stimulation; the effect on hair is also exhibited by inhibitors of NF-.kappa.B. Thus, assessing a candidate compound for its ability to inhibit proteasomal proteins or NF-.kappa.B provides a useful means to identify... hair growth anabolic agents."
The patent application goes into a lot more detail and it's kind of beyond me. Keep in mind that they try to frame these as widely as possible so they cover all their bases. So some of what is in there may be speculative. Still, it's interesting.
It's awkward to link to the exact document, but if you go here: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html and search for 7223554 as the patent number it will come up.