Hair Loss Treatment in Development from UA Patented Technology
by July 30, 2015 9:45 am 152 views
Drug discovery firm BiologicsMD of Fayetteville is developing a line of products that treat hair loss, using patented technology co-invented by a University of Arkansas faculty member.
Joshua Sakon, UA associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is one of four co-inventors of a pharmaceutical protein called BMD-2341 that can be used to treat hair loss and other disorders.
“A derivative of the original drug has an effect in reversing or suppressing hair loss,” Sakon said, in a UA press release. “Specifically, it could be applied to treat alopecia, a condition in which hair loss occurs in patches on the scalp, or in cases of chemically induced alopecia, which occurs during chemotherapy. The drug has been successful in treating hair loss in mice and I look forward to seeing the drug move into clinical trials.”
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent for the technology on June 23 to the UA System Board of Trustees in Little Rock, the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans and the National University Corporation Kagawa University in Japan.
According to the patent office website, the patent covers fusion proteins that can potentially be used to promote hair and bone growth, to prevent cancer metastasis to bone, to promote immune reconstitution with a bone marrow stem cell transplant, to promote mobilization of bone marrow stem cells for collection for autologous stem cell transplant, and to treat renal osteodystrophy.
BiologicsMD, located in the Arkansas Research &Technology Park, holds the exclusive license for the technology.