Brittle bone drug could unlock cure for baldness

A drug originally developed to fight brittle bone disease could have unlocked a cure for baldness.

Scientists at the University of Manchester say an unintended side effect could form the basis for an effective treatment for pattern baldness, the most common cause of hair loss.

Researchers started out by examining Cyclosporine A, a drug used to treat cancer and autoimmune disease which is known to cause some patients to experience excessive hair growth.

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They pinpointed a compound in the drug which suppresses a protein associated with preventing hair growth. However, the drug’s other powerful side effects make it unsuitable for use in treating hair loss.

“After some detective work, Dr Hawkshaw found that a compound originally developed to treat osteoporosis, called WAY-316606, targets the same mechanism,” HuffPost reports.

The drug “had never even been considered in a hair loss context”, according to lead scientist Dr Nathan Hawkshaw said, but tests showed it had a “dramatic stimulatory effect” on hair growth.

Follicles donated by 40 male hair transplant patients experienced “significant increase” in growth just two days after being treated with WAY-316606, according to the study, published in the journal PLOS Biology.

Male pattern baldness affects around half of all men by the age of 50 and usually manifests as a receding hairline and/or hair, whereas the less common female pattern baldness usually takes the form of thinning hair.

Minoxidil and finasteride are currently the only drugs prescribed to treat pattern baldness “but both have side effects and often produce disappointing results”, says The Daily Telegraph. Neither are available on the NHS.

Clinical trials on human patients will be needed to establish whether the drug could be a safe and effective treatment for baldness, but Hawkshaw says the team is excited by the potential.

“It could one day make a real difference to people who suffer from hair loss,” he said.