Available drug treatments for hair loss are modestly effective at best and often plagued by unpleasant side effects. In male pattern baldness, hormonal and other factors lead to a shortened growth (anagen) phase of the hair follicle, resulting in deactivated hair stem cells and diminished hair growth. To regrow lost hair, it may be possible to reactivate dormant hair stem cells by stimulating their cellular signaling. The Hedgehog signaling pathway provides a cellular signal crucial for hair growth that can trigger hair follicles to reenter an active growth phase. At MAX BioPharma, a startup company based in Santa Monica, California, we have developed Oxy133, a drug candidate that can stimulate Hedgehog signaling through a safe ‘allosteric’ mechanism.

To contribute to our modest crowdfund experiment, follow this link to see full project details.