Ancient Egyptians rubbed their bald heads with a mixture of dates, dog’s paw and donkey’s hoof; Celtic cures involved mice in a jar. Native Americans turned to yucca juice. Throughout human history, there have been a number of existential quests: for knowledge, for peace, for riches — and for a cure for baldness.
Hair loss is caused by a multitude of factors, including aging, stress, hormonal imbalances and bad genetics. Despite advances, few remedies have ever worked for more than one in three people, leading the bereft to experiment with questionable treatments or endure costly surgeries. The drugs Rogaine and Propecia have offered glimmers of hope for the follically challenged, but even bigger breakthroughs may be imminent.
UCLA scientists have now identified a small molecule that, when prompted, can waken long-slumbering but undamaged follicles. The researchers have dubbed the transporting molecule “PP405” (perhaps as a tribute to another headache L.A. residents have to deal with, the 405 freeway).
Could a full head of hair soon be the norm ... for everyone?
In scientific terms, the PP405 molecule is isolated and applied to a protein in the follicle stem cells that keeps the cells dormant. This inhibits the protein, and the stem cells are moved to awaken. Lab work on the molecule has been going on for almost a decade. In the first human trials, conducted in 2023, researchers found that application of PP405 as a topical medicine onto the scalp at bedtime for a week produced promising results. Although cautious with actual data, the UCLA researchers labeled the results “statistically significant.” Most importantly, they believe the treatment will produce full “terminal” hair rather than the peach fuzz variety produced by other contemporary miracle-cure lotions and potions.
The three UCLA scientists behind the breakthrough — William Lowry, professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology; Heather Christofk ’01, professor of biological chemistry; and Michael Jung, distinguished professor of chemistry — are bullish on the potential of the treatment to reverse pattern hair loss, which affects more than half of all men and one-fourth of all women by the age of 50. “At some point, most men and women suffer from thinning hair, or lose it after chemotherapy, infections or other stressors, and it affects them psychologically,” says Lowry, who, although richly coiffed now, is aware that hair loss is probably in his future.
Or maybe not. “No such product will work for everyone,” he says, “but our first human trials in Orange County have been very encouraging, and there are larger trials with more people to follow.”
Lowry and his team were concerned that the PP405 small molecule might kill all of the follicles, “but we were happy to be wrong about that,” he says. Through UCLA’s Technology Transfer Group, which transforms brilliant research into global market products, the scientists have co-founded a medical development company called Pelage Pharmaceuticals. Backed by Google Ventures, last year the company raised $16.4 million in funding to shepherd further trials and win official clearances.
“FDA approvals always take some time, as they should,” Lowry says. “But it will be worth waiting for.”
