Histogen's Hair Stimulating Complex (HSC) is a proprietary liquid formula created by the culturing of newborn cells in a simulated embryonic environment of suspension and very low oxygen, and then harvesting the naturally secreted growth factors, proteins and other synergistic bioproducts that are produced.

HSC is currently being developed and evaluated as an injectable for hair growth. The embryonic-like proteins and growth factors within the complex, including follistatin, VEGF and KGF, have been shown to both stimulate resting hair follicles to produce new hair, as well as induce stem cells in the scalp to form new follicles.

HSC Clinical Development
The pilot 24 subject clinical trial of HSC was a double-blind, placebo-controlled evaluation of safety in the clinical application of the product as an injectable for hair growth. Quantitative analysis of clinical macrophotography and subject biopsies were utilized to evaluate treatment safety and efficacy. No adverse events were seen at any timepoint, including the two year follow-up.

HSC also achieved statistically significant efficacy at both the 12 week and 1 year timepoints, including increases in hair count, hair thickness, and hair density. This represents the first time that a single application of a treatment has produced this type of significant hair growth in a human study.

Comprehensive results from this first-in-man clinical trial of HSC were published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Drugs in Dermatology in November 2011:
http://jddonline.com/articles/dermatology/1650

Enrollment of 56 patients with male pattern hair loss in the Phase I/II clinical trial of HSC has been completed, and the trial is ongoing. Dr. Gail Naughton, Histogen CEO and Chairman of the Board, presented the 12 week primary safety and efficacy data at the Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID) Annual Meeting on May 11, 2012. The treatment was well-tolerated and no study-related adverse events have been reported. In this second clinical trial of HSC, which was designed with an additional treatment timepoint, the increase in total hair count was 46.5% above that seen in the pilot HSC trial at 12 weeks. Statistical significance was noted in all efficacy endpoints which include increases in total hair count (p=0.0013), terminal hairs (p=0.0135) and hair thickness (p=0.026). A brief on the data presented by Dr. Naughton during the SID Annual Meeting can be found here.( 1.13MB)

Hair Growth Market
The hair loss market is both large and underserved, affecting over 40 million men and 21 million women in the United States alone, but with less than 7% of sufferers currently seek treatment due to the limitations of available options. HSC represents a potentially revolutionary new injectable treatment for the millions suffering from hair loss, offering benefits over daily-use, limited efficacy prescription products as well as invasive surgical treatments.