Results from Amplifica’s first in-human trial show promise for a new potential hair loss treatment.
The trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of Amplifica’s injectable treatment for androgenetic alopecia (AGA), a common form of hair loss, in male participants aged 18 to 45 years diagnosed with AGA.
The study found a more than 15% increase in thicker, coarser hair in participants 60 days post-treatment.
Amplifica, a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company, was co-founded by University of California, Irvine biology professor Maksim Plikus who serves as chief scientific officer.
“It’s very exciting to see that we were able to take some of our ideas from lab research and validate the efficacy in at least a phase one level in humans,” Plikus told the Business Journal.
The positive results come one year after the Business Journal reported that Plikus’ team found a signaling molecule called osteopontin, prominent in hairy skin moles, could be a good candidate for hair growth medication.
Plikus’ lab at UCI also separately discovered a method to grow a new type of cartilage tissue from stem cells for plastic surgeries and repairing facial birth defects.
Findings from the study were published last week in the peer-reviewed journal Science.
Rediscovering Lost Knowledge
Plikus’ team was using mice ears for hair studies when they stumbled upon something they couldn’t explain.
They knew they were looking at cartilage, but under the microscope, saw balloon-like cells one would see in fat tissue.
“We came to realize that what we were looking at was fat-like cartilage where there is very little matrix, or collagen elastic proteins,” Plikus said.
Plikus described it as a rediscovery of this unique skeletal tissue, which they’ve dubbed lipocartilage, that was first discovered in 1854 by Dr. Franz Leydig and fell into obscurity until now, according to Plikus.
The rediscovery of lipocartilage opens up new opportunities to take stem cells and bio-manufacture cartilage for facial reconstructive and cosmetic surgeries.
While it’s already possible to engineer cartilage tissue from stem cells, a major safety roadblock is the purity of these cells, Plikus said.
Unpure stem cells, when left unchecked after being injected into the body, can grow into tumor-like masses.
Plikus’ team, however, has discovered a way to label the lipocartilage using dye to make the lipid cells in it show up as a fluorescent color.
“All of a sudden, you have a super simple and reliable biomarker to separate the intended cells from everything else,” Plikus said.
Plikus said they have submitted a patent application for the method of purifying these cells using liquid labeling and intends on commercializing the process in the future.
The research received pilot funding of $1 million from the W.M. Keck Foundation, as well as a proof of principle grant for $100,000 from UCI Beall Applied Innovation, which supported work on human embryonic stem cells and purifying tissue.