Applied Biology Interview

I recently had the opportunity to speak with the President of Applied Biology, Dr. Andy Goren. In our discussion, we went over several of the company’s therapeutic programs which will be presented in this article.

Dr. Goren is both the President and Chief Medical Officer of Applied Biology. He is an esteemed researcher in the hair industry and maintains positions of service at various international universities and hospitals. One of his most noteworthy accomplishments is developing the first genetic test for androgenetic alopecia. Instead of a traditional interview format, I’ve decided to share Dr. Goren’s commentary in sections dedicated to several of the company’s top products.

Minoxidil Enhancing Shampoo

Applied Biology’s current lead product candidate, AB-103, is described as a “Topical Minoxidil Adjuvant Therapy” on the company’s website. Dr. Goren gave me an interesting lesson on minoxidil while discussing this treatment. It turns out, the drug minoxidil alone is not effective at growing hair. In order for minoxidil to induce hair growth it needs to be metabolized to its active form ‘minoxidil sulfate’ by sulfotransferase enzymes located in the outer root sheath of the hair follicle. Dr. Goren has previously published a scientific article on this mechanism. One of the known shortcomings of minoxidil is its fairly low response rate in patients, particularly female androgenetic alopecia patients. A lack of response can be due to a number of reasons, however, one factor which virtually guarantees minoxidil will not work for a person is having a low amount of sulfotransferase enzymes in their hair follicles. Therefore, finding a way to upregulate sulfotransferase enzymes in hair follicles would be an ideal way of improving minoxidil response in patients and Dr. Goren and his team have identified a molecule which does just that.



This treatment will be developed as a shampoo which is a convenient option for its users. Rather than having to apply an additional topical serum along with minoxidil, a person can receive the benefit of the molecule while shampooing. Knowing that many of you would have the same question, I was inclined to ask Dr. Goren if this product could also improve the results of people who are already minoxidil responders. He believes that, yes, this will be the case and that this product could increase hair count and speed of response from minoxidil, although a full study has not been conducted yet. The idea of improving the benefits of minoxdil + microneedling with this adjunct is also appealing.

The product is planned to be released next year in 2020.

DHT-Eating Bacteria

This therapy is listed as AB-101 in the company’s pipeline. During our conversation, I could tell Dr. Goren was very excited about the potential of this treatment and he listed it as one of his favorites. It’s well known that DHT is the androgen hormone which causes the shrinking of hair follicles in pattern hair loss. However, popular anti-androgen drugs which are currently available block the production of DHT throughout the entire body which overall is not an optimal approach for treating the scalp only.

In an effort to modernize anti-DHT therapy, Dr. Goren and his team have identified a particular strain of bacteria which is able to “eat” or metabolize DHT. This microbial treatment would be applied topically and Dr. Goren believes it could be an ideal replacement for finasteride, or other anti-DHT agents, with no systemic side effects.

The Applied Biology team has established a proof of concept on this work in the laboratory and is hoping to show its efficacy in humans next year.

Autologous Stem Cell Injection Kit

Applied Biology’s stem cell injection kit is very similar to the Regenera Activa procedure which was featured in a recent Follicle Thought article. In this procedure a tissue sample is taken from the donor area of the scalp and processed through a machine which creates a stem cell serum from the tissue. Dr. Goren tells me that stem cells from the hair follicle bulge, dermal papilla, and fat tissue are utilized in this treatment. The extracted serum is then injected into the compromised area of the scalp to repopulate stem cell pools and revitalize hair follicles.

Dr. Goren says the cost of Applied Biology’s kit is much lower than the Regenera system, and thus, could make the procedure more cost effective to consumers. I’m told Applied Biology’s kit has recently begun testing in Asia and I should be receiving some before and after images of the first patients soon.

Chemotherapy-Induced-Alopecia Prophylactic Topical

AB-102 is a treatment which could offer an alternative to scalp cooling devices for patients undergoing chemotherapy. The status-quo scalp cooling devices restrict the ability of chemotherapy agents to reach hair follicles by decreasing blood flow and cellular metabolism in and around the scalp. This, in turn, prevents chemotherapy drugs from destroying hair follicles. I was surprised to learn that these cooling devices are not well tolerated by some patients simply because the devices are very cold on the scalp and need to be applied for around two hours to be effective.

With an interest to improve treatment options for patients undergoing chemotherapy, the team at Applied Biology have come up with the idea to mimic the effect of the cooling device through a chemical entity. Thus, Applied Biology’s therapy AB-102 will be a small molecule topical which causes reduced cell metabolism and vasoconstriction locally without the need for an external device which can be burdensome for its users.

Other therapies in Applied Biology’s pipeline include a topical treatment which reduces excessive shedding and traction alopecia, and a kit which reduces shock loss from hair transplant surgery.

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