Hair Stimulating Complex (HSC) More Information
Hair Stimulating Complex (HSC) is a liquid formula that was developed by Histogen, Inc. — a regenerative medicine company based in San Diego, CA — and is currently being evaluated as an injectable product for the medical treatment of hair loss. The liquid complex contains growth factors and proteins; such as follistatin, VEGF, and KGF; which are naturally secreted by embryonic cells. These growth factors are shown to stimulate resting hair follicles to grow new hairs and induce stem cells to form new follicles in the scalp.
Histogen creates the Hair Stimulating Complex by culturing newborn cells in an environment that simulates the development environment of an embryo, one of suspension in which there is a very low amount of oxygen.
Clinical Development of Hair Stimulating Complex
Histogen has conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical pilot trial of HSC to evaluate the safety of the product as an injectable treatment for hair growth. The trial, which consisted of 24 subjects, included quantitative analysis of macrophotography and subject biopsies in order to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the treatment.
The trial showed efficacy of the formula at 12 weeks and 1 year. This includes statistically significant improvement in hair count, hair thickness, and hair density. According to Histogen, this finding represents the first time that a treatment of this type has shown significant growth of hair in testing in humans. There were no adverse events seen in the trial, including an evaluation after a two-year follow-up review following the initial trial. Results of this trial were published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Drugs in Dermatology in November 2011.
The next round of clinical trials, the Phase I/II trial of HSC is currently under way as of Oct 2014, with enrollment of 56 male patients who have male pattern hair loss. According to the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Histogen, Dr. Gail Naughton, the 12 week data on safety and efficacy of HSC were presented at the Society for Investigative Dermatology meeting on May 11, 2012. As per Dr. Naughton, the efficacy of HSC in increasing hair count was 46.5% above the initial pilot test at the same timepoint (12 weeks). In addition to improved hair count, there was statistically significant efficacy of HSC with regard to terminal hairs and hair thickness. There were no adverse events reported which were caused by the formula. Histogen has provided a downloadable PDF brief on these latest findings on their website. Click here to download the brief.
