Why Do You Think We Still Have Only Two Drugs For Androgenetic Alopecia?

[Falsenine]

Hi guys,
Androgenetic alopecia has probably existed ever since humans first walked the earth and I think most of us can agree that it causes a lot of stress especially when it happens prematurely to young guys.

Being such a common problem, you can find all kinds of snake oils, fake dht blockers, fake growth products and since they keep making scam products, obviously there’s a high demand for more hair loss treatments.

And yet, here we are with only one effective drug and another one being mildly effective.

Not only that, it seems there isn’t much research going on. Yes, I know currently there are multiple potential treatments but is it just me or most of these treatments fail to enter phase III and get abandoned?

So why do you think we still don’t have mlore options, here are a few possible explanations:

1- the big 3 combo is very effective and safe(according to studies) so no need for more options?

2-Not many people care about hair loss which means it’s not very profitable.

3- It’s not very well understood and difficult to treat.

Also, do you think we’ll ever have a hairloss solution to help us while we’re still young? (for people who can’t take finasteride or hasnt worked for them)

Love to hear your thoughts.

 

[d3nt3dsh0v3l]

3.

And

4. Developing new medical treatments for humans is a long, painful, costly road that takes on the order of years to decades to complete.

3. and 4. alone make it hard as sh*t.

1. is not entirely true because many people get sub-par results on the big 3, side effects, and diminishing returns after 5-10 years of use.

2. is something many people here parrot out of frustration, but the reality is that the hair loss market is already huge with shitty products. Common sense says that having a working product would reveal the true market size to be much, much larger, as evidenced by the successs of sectors of cosmetics and aesthetic medicine (orthodontics, dermatology, plastic surgery, make-up, etc. Hair is a large part of appearance and loss thereof affects both genders and has a history of creating desperation and self-consciousness [Hint: check out the freaks on this forum called hairlosstalk]).

/thread

 

[dermrafok]

Do not worry. The market for hair loss is increasing. We will have better treatments than we have today. End.

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/alopecia-market

 

[kawnshawn]

I've talked with a dermatologist about this before. Basically the number one reason we havent had a real proven treatment like Propecia or minoxidil in almost a decade and half is because the profitability of researching, devolping, and producing an effective treatment isn't as great as other avenues of treatment for pharmticual companies.

For all the money Merck made from Propecia it was still a commercial failure, and the pharmaceutical industry has some of the highest profit margins of any industry, so that's saying something.

A large portion of men don't seek treatment for hair loss believe it or not. It's just not profitable for large giants entities, now the opposite cant be said for small guys who want to make a quick buck selling snake oil hair treatments. Only the past few years have we seen an interest by serious companies wanting to bring new treatments to market since year after year the cosmetic industry has kept on growing

 

[washed_up]

Well, assuming everything goes well, and that's a big if, there could be fevipiprant off-label and topical finasteride by polichem within the next 3 years. That would be a much stronger combination prevention treatment than what we have now. Regrowth is a much tougher matter though.

 

[coolio]

There will be a sh*t-ton of profit for anything that regrows a lot of hair.

The industry thinks there isn't enough money in it because slowing down future loss with dick-wilting drugs turned out not to be very profitable. Shocker.

 

[itsjustsimon]

For all the money Merck made from Propecia it was still a commercial failure, and the pharmaceutical industry has some of the highest profit margins of any industry, so that's saying something

How is this possible? If I go to a local pharmacy the price of Propecia is ~ $70 for 28 days!

 

[SheddieMurphy]

A large portion of men don't seek treatment for hair loss believe it or not. It's just not profitable for large giants entities, now the opposite cant be said for small guys who want to make a quick buck selling snake oil hair treatments. Only the past few years have we seen an interest by serious companies wanting to bring new treatments to market since year after year the cosmetic industry has kept on growing

this is so unfortunate, kind of a vicious circle

- people just accept their hairloss because they cant do anything about it anyway, so they dont want to inflict suffering and frustration on themselves by obssessing over it
- companies focus on other things because hairloss is natural and "nobody really cares"

when in fact 99% of people losing hair would kill for an effective, side-effect free, affordable fix as it would greatly increase their life quality

 

[ghosthairkillah]

Men don’t seek treatment for their hair loss because the answer they get is a hair transplant or drugs with sides that they have to apply every day for the rest of their lives. A permanent solution would be very desirable by most men assuming it wasn’t ridiculously expensive.

 

[JimmyB]

It's extremely expensive and time consuming (about 10 years on average) to bring a new drug to market. Many companies don't invest much in R&D, and if they do, want more bang for their buck.
Also, there hasn't historically been huge demand for Minoxidil or finasteride despite what you may have read. But hopefully companies realize that a product that's easier to use and/or more effective would increase usage/purchases tremendously.

 

[SheddieMurphy]

Also, there hasn't historically been huge demand for Minoxidil or finasteride despite what you may have read. But hopefully companies realize that a product that's easier to use and/or more effective would increase usage/purchases tremendously.

yeah. vast majority of hair loss sufferers dont even consider seeking treatment since there is no mainstream product available (finasteride, min and transplants dont make it because of all the cons), and of those who do, only a minority actually goes through with it.

so its ridiculous when people claim there are no new treatments because merck or hair transplant docs (which, btw, are considered borderline charlatans, aside from maybe 10-15 renowned globally known names) are lobbying and sabotaging progress

 

[abcdefg]

Cost, bureaucracy, and difficulty. Its very expensive to develop new medical treatments. The FDA takes 10 years to get the final product out there so that is a pretty long time before actually seeing a new treatment. male pattern baldness has turned out to be a pretty difficult problem with many different facets to it. Those problems are hard to really address, and you need results better then minoxidil or finasteride for it to be worth the costs and time to do it.
That is a tall order for a difficult problem that is poorly understood still. Also like others have said finasteride and minoxidil are not huge block busters in sales. Not enough money in it.
Over the years many topicals have existed, but never got finished. RU, ASCJ 9, and others. Many speculate its just not worth the cost when propecia exists already.
I have always wondered why Merk didnt reformulate finasteride as a topical version. They originally were going to, but men wanted oral instead. They could have got a new patent on it, and increased sales. Rogain did it with the foam. I guess Merk doesnt see the money in it

 

[abcdefg]

How is this possible? If I go to a local pharmacy the price of Propecia is ~ $70 for 28 days!

The cost of propecia isnt really any cheaper then it was like 6 or 7 years ago back before the generics came out. Wouldnt you think the generic options would lower the costs a lot? Oh yeah its a cosmetic drug for a white middle class issue why not price gouge them instead since insurance doesnt cover it.