Follica's Cure for Baldness

A relatively new enterprise in the field of preventing hair loss, Follica combines the business sense of the private sector with academic know-how, promising to deliver a new approach. However, as of this writing, it has yet to finalize any commercial product.

Partners

• Follica was established in early 2008 by a group of academic dermatology, headed by Dr. George Costarelis of the University of Pennsylvania. Funding was provided by private investors and venture capital firm PureTech.

Approach

• The modus operandi behind Follica is simple -- founders regard existing hair loss treatments as ineffective. They claim all of these don't work because they try to revive existing hair follicles, which are already beyond help. Follica research aims to generate entirely new follicles.

Neogenesis

• The company is working on medical technology that will enable neogenesis of hair follicles. In other words, in a vein similar to wound healing, they seek to literally create new, healthy hair follicles to replace those that have already become inactive.

Differentiation

• Follica also claims current remedies espouse business over medical utility and therefore lack innovation. The main asset Follica seems to bring to the fore is the combination of new medical research with the business acumen to deliver it to consumers.

Recent developments

• Follica hired new CEO William Ju in May 2009. This move is intended to give the enterprise a more public face and possibly prepare for clinical trials of products developed by the firm.

Warning

• Note there are no actual products made by Follica circa late 2009. The company is keeping mum about when something will appear on the market, and their website only allows for consumer enquiries.

  Important: Follica isn't the same as Folica, a retail site selling traditional hair loss products from a variety of brands. The folica.com address has nothing to do with Follica. Their website is follicabio.com.