Breaking news from New York where Pfizer confirm they have received Breakthrough Therapy Designation for their hair loss treatment.
Pfizer
The presence of Pfizer in this news piece lends this news real credence. Far removed from the usual pack of ambitious and variously funded small start-ups, Pfizer are one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical firms and would lay claim to being the number one when it comes to innovation in bio-pharmaceuticals. Fans of cures for hair loss articles will have read at least something about one of their important research areas Janus Kinane, known as JAK, inhibitors. The treatment works, so the theory at Pfizer goes, by blocking a key message which if left alone would cause hair loss.
Earlier this year Pfizer were awarded Breakthrough Therapy Designation for another version of the treatment, known as JAK1 it is aimed at treating moderate to severe dermatitus. This designation is awarded by the FDA in cases where there is a clear and desperate need for a treatment, where either none exists at present or the new treatment is a considerable improvement that has passed Phase 2 trials with flying colours. So the designation was a great result for the JAK team at Pfizer and offered encouragement to those working on JAK3, the version for hair loss that they might achieve the same.
Phase 2 Study Results Expected
Even ahead of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology, EADV to its friends, where their Phase 2 study results will be officially presented, the FDA have seen fit to award Breakthrough Therapy Designation to JAK3. The boss of development at Pfizer’s inflammation and Immunology team, Michael Corbo, said: We are encouraged by this Breakthrough Therapy designation as it underscores the potential of our JAK3 inhibitor to address a critical unmet need. We are continuing to work closely with the FDA on the developmental process with the goal of bringing this potential new treatment to patients living with alopecia areata as soon as possible.
HIS Hair Clinic
It certainly sounds as though things are suddenly moving very quickly for JAK3, we will definitely need to keep an eye on the news to see what comes next but presumably a double blind clinical trial… and then a product. Which will still be some time away. But it would be the first new FDA approved hair loss treatment for a very, very long time. And the first ever designated for use against androgenetic alopecia. Fingers crossed.
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