HCell Exclusive: Before and After Hair Growth Photos

Last week I had the opportunity to join a video conference with the HCell team to discuss their therapy aimed at multiple forms of alopecia. The HCell company emerged on the internet around mid January 2018 through the announcement of their Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA to treat pediatric alopecia areata. That press release also mentioned that HCell has a therapy aimed at androgenic alopecia. I learned a lot about HCell during our discussion including the biological components of the treatment and the fact that this treatment is currently available to patients in Asia.

HCell Alopecia Therapies

HCell currently has two therapies in its pipeline, HCO17AA for pediatric alopecia areata and HCO100 for female androgenic alopecia. Both therapies are based on the same therapeutic components, PRP/Plasma and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). I believe that different ratios are used when treating either androgenic alopecia or alopecia areata. The designations given in the company’s pipeline are due to the company’s desire to focus on these designations first based on market potentials for unmet needs and regulatory pathways. However, the company has other designations that will also treat adults with alopecia areata and men with androgenic alopecia. I was initially surprised to learn that PRP/Plasma was involved in the therapy, however was interested to learn more about bFGF and how these therapies are designed to work. HCell theorizes that their treatment is likened to the metaphor of trying to grow a crop in unfertile soil. Their aim is to make the soil, or scalp, healthy to produce improved growth of hair through the injection of PRP, Plasma, and bFGF.

HCell Before and After Results

Of course, the main focus on every alopecia treatment is what the results look like. I was shown several case studies during the HCell slide deck presentation as well as other results images from the presenter’s computer. Here are some images from the HCell slide deck. Click on any image to view it full screen.







HCO100 HCO17AAHCO100





I find these results interesting. Alopecia areata cases are typically easier to review because their is such a contrast in before and after images. There are more variables to consider when reviewing regrowth in androgenic alopecia photo results. The presenter did mention that these photos of HCO100 were taken early on and the doctor has improved his technique for capturing photos. Another HCell team member suggested that the doctor could provide video documentation for further cases. I agreed that would be helpful and I hope to receive more photos from the HCell team to share in the near future.

Company Background & Development

Here’s a brief overview of the company’s history and development from what I gathered during the video conference. The treatment originated from the office of Jaehyun Lim, MD, PhD of South Korea. He also serves as the CSO of HCell. Jaehyun has treated over 500 patients with this novel formulation and has observed positive results. Thus, along with his brother Jaebum Lim who serves as Chief Business Strategist for HCell, they have endeavored to bring this therapy to North America through the US FDA. The decision was made to approach alopecia areata initially and then female AGA because of the significant unmet needs in those patient areas. The HCell team also comprises William Jang J.D., interim CEO and Karl Kim, COO.



HCell is in a unique situation as they are a company seeking FDA clinical approval for their hair growth treatments while these treatments are actually available to consumers in another part of the world (South Korea). This should, if anything, help them produce an unlimited amount of data to prove their efficacy. If you are considering inquiring with HCell about receiving these treatments in South Korea please use your own discretion.

Feedback

I know that many of you will have questions about HCell and its treatments. So, in order to help you get efficient answers so I am inviting Karl Kim of HCell to respond to readers’ questions in the comments section below.

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