New Androgen Receptor Drug: Kintor Pharmaceuticals

It’s always pleasing to learn of new companies who are developing drugs to treat hair loss. The more companies there are in the pipeline, the greater the chances are for success. Kintor Pharmaceuticals of China is the latest company to enter the global pharma market of alopecia treatments.

Kintor Pharmaceuticals Pipeline

There are two listed androgen receptor (AR) antagonist drugs listed in Kintor’s pipeline chart.



Atop the list of Kintor’s pipeline is an androgen receptor antagonist called proxalutamide. It is a 2nd generation AR antagonist being tested for the indications of prostate cancer and breast cancer. Proxalutamide has reached a phase 3 trial in China for prostate cancer. It is currently being developed in oral pill form. Although this drug is not being targeted for hair loss, any AR receptor drug will catch the attention of the hair science community due to the fact that androgen hormones (DHT) and androgen receptors are thought to be the core mechanisms involved in pattern hair loss.



KX-826 Androgen Receptor Antagonist

For this audience, Kintor’s drug candidate of choice would be KX-826, its other AR antagonist being trialed for androgenic alopecia, diabetic foot ulcers, and a form of acne. As indicated in the pipeline chart, KX-826 will be developed as a topical solution to treat hair loss. As an AR antagonist, this puts KX-826 in the same category as Breezula (CB-03-01) which we are well familiar with. This would also differentiate KX-826 from finasteride and lessen the likelihood of potential hormonal side effects from its use. The reason for this is KX-826 does not reduce the amount of DHT production in the body like finasteride does, it simply reduces the ability for DHT to attach to androgen receptors in the hair follicle, and thus, weaken them. The fact that KX-826 affects receptor sites and not hormone serum levels would also make it a potential treatment for females as well as males.

According to Kintor Pharma, KX-826 has completed a phase 1 clinical trial in the US and China and will be moving into a phase 2 trial in the US and China soon. The upcoming phase 2 trial for KX-826 will be met with excitement and many will be keen to compare its results alongside the recent showings from Breezula.

If KX-826 were to be approved in the future it brings up questions to minds of would-be users: Would a combination therapy of Breezula + KX-826 provide a synergistic blockade against DHT receptors in hair follicles? What kind of results could be achieved by using systemic finasteride and adding topical KX-826 to a regimen?

It’s also interesting to consider that Kintor’s first AR antagonist proxalutamide is already at phase 3 in China and could become commercially available soon. This brings up the possibility of observing how it could also help in androgenic alopecia either by oral administration or creating a compounded topical formula of proxalutamide to be used on the scalp. Stay tuned for updates on proxalutamide and especially KX-826 in the near future. Thank you for linking to this article when sharing this timely news.

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