Bald dudes, you may want to cancel those tickets to Turkey, because an oral hair loss drug deep into clinical trials has generated positive results in over 500 balding men. According to a new study released by pharmaceutical company Veradermics, their shiny new daily pill could soon save your increasingly exposed scalp.
The experimental drug called VDPHL01 just went through a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 trial involving 536 men with mild-to-moderate male pattern baldness. They spent six months taking an 8.5 milligram pill once or twice a day, or taking a placebo. The guys taking the daily pill sprouted nearly 29 more hairs per square centimeter, while the twice-a-day overachievers birthed over 36 extra hairs. Placebo guys grew six lonely hairs.
Scientists Just Tested a New Hair Loss Pill, and the Results Are Pretty Impressive
Nearly 85 percent of the two-a-day crowd reported visible improvements in the mirror, compared to 15 percent of placebo takers who probably would’ve had better luck filling their vision boards with pictures of John Stamos’s head. No serious side effects reported.
The secret here is no secret at all, actually: minoxidil, the blood pressure medication that someone long ago noticed spurred hair growth as a side effect. Now, it’s one of the first lines of defense for men attempting to stem the tide of hair loss. For a while there, doctors prescribed it in a topical form, but it recently gained popularity as a pill.
Veradermics is hoping VDPHL01 becomes the first officially FDA-approved oral minoxidil specifically formulated to resurrect dead hair follicles. The company is currently running extended trials to track long-term safety over a full year, while launching a Phase 3 trial for women dealing with pattern baldness.
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