Aderans Research and Clinical Trials in Stem Cell Hair Loss Treatments

Aderans Research [ARI] is a subsidiary of two companies interested in developing innovative new stem cell treatments for hair loss resulting from a number of differing causes – including genetic male and female pattern baldness, medical treatments for cancer, and injuries resulting in damage to hair follicles such as burns or wounds. Aderans Research is located in Atlanta, Ga. The parent company, Aderans Co., Ltd, is located in Beverly Hills working in conjunction with Bosley hair treatment and clinics.

ARI is in the second phase of developing cellular restoration products for hair regrowth applications. In November 2011, Aderans announced that it was opening new facilities for additional clinical trials in association with Radiant Research in four new cities across the nation. Some clinics are still accepting people who wish to participate in the study. To date, over 356 individuals have been joined the study as clinical subjects.

Aderans Research’s signature treatment involves using a subject’s own hair stem cells, thus eliminating concerns about rejection. By cultivating stem cells from the subject himself or herself, other complications – such as infections or disease transmission — are dramatically reduced. ARI studies regeneration of hair cells at the follicular level for both men and women.

A stem cell is any cell from any part of the body – skin, brain, fatty tissue, hair, or organs – which has the ability to replicate itself. This process is much like the stem of a plant which sprouts leaves along its length. These cells are one part of the ingredient in hair regeneration. The second part is the cell that acts an “alarm clock” for waking dormant cells.

It has been known since the University of Pennsylvania’s study in 2004 that hair follicles include multiple cells. Some of these cells are hair replication cells, which control the cyclical growth of hair. Other cells are communicator cells, which are necessary to wake the dormant cells when it is time for them to grow. People with certain types of hair loss are now known to lack the alarm clock cells (also known as progenitor cells). Unless there is a method to inform the dormant cells that it is time to activate, hairs are not generated.

In a Yale University research program in November 2011, it was discovered that the communication cells, which instruct the hair cells to grow, are found in the fatty layer below the epidermis. The full ramifications of this discovery are still not clear but hopes remain strong that this will lead to the ability to replicate other cells in the human body. Until this time, the value of the fatty layer was not understood.

With the latest breakthroughs in molecular endocrinology regarding communicator cells in the fatty layer beneath the skin and with the Yale research demonstrating the importance of fat cells for hair growth, Aderans has developed products that taking advantage of these new breakthorughs. However, this does not address issues with an underlying cause related to the contraction of hair follicles.

One of the major problems that hair restoration doctors face is the patchy effect of surgical transplants. The question of why one area of the scalp would allow hair regrowth while another in close proximity would not could not be explained. The Yale and University of Penn studies shed light on this problem. With that, researchers around the world have been working to develop methods to overcome the problem.

During Phase I of Aderans’s clinical studies, conducted in the U.K., Aderans focused on pattern redistribution issues noted in traditional surgical transplants and medical treatments for regrowth. One of the problems documented was the limitation of distribution of hair regrowth in surgical transplants.

The process used by Aderans involves the reproduction or replication of hair cells taken from a subject. By removing hair samples from the subjects scalp, the stem cells from the follicle are stripped out and placed in a medium that incubates the cells. The medium contains nutrients that are necessary for the cells to replicate on their own. In this way, there are an unlimited number of hair follicles to replant in the subjects scalp. In addition, the fat cells that are a necessary part of the continuation of hair growth develop simultaneously during replication due to the medium used.

Part of the medium used by Aderans is a small amount of tissue removed from the nape of the subject’s neck. By using this method, the fat cells become an integral part of the cloning process and compatible with the subject. This tissue — used with Wnt proteins — stimulates the replication system of the cells in a natural way.

In January 2012, Dr. Ken Washenik participated as a presenter for the 2012 Winter Dermatology Conference in Maui. Speaking on “Emerging Therapies for Hair Loss,” Dr. Washenik discussed the treatments and new breakthroughs of molecular dermatology as well as the latest advances in Aderans’ Ji Gami product line. He stressed the advance in products still in the pipeline that are proving to be consistently stable.