They were developing a treatment for BPH and AGA. They've abandoned the AGA product. Here's an excerpt from their press release....
Preliminary results from the Phase I/II lemuteporfin study in BPH were very encouraging and showed not only that the treatment was well tolerated by most patients, but also showed indications of early efficacy with a 3-month improvement in average AUA (American Urological Association) symptom scores in all cohorts. The company plans to continue its development of lemuteporfin in BPH in a Phase IIb study.
Also, while the results of lemuteporfin in androgenetic alopecia showed an increased mean or average hair count, the company will not develop this indication on its own and has prioritized the BPH program.
The hair loss treatment probably works just fine (for men), but they don't see enough money in it to develop it further. I wonder what's happening with the other drugs in development at other companies....like Osteoscreen, Curis, and Regenerx.
QLT Inc. backs off their hair loss product
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Tricia
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QLT Inc. backs off their hair loss product
5% minoxidil
Multivitamin with iron
Multivitamin with iron
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HairLossFight.com
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Hi my_username and thanks for the post.
I am not overly suprised with this news. Ever since Propecia was approved it seems that drug companies are not as enthusiastic to try to get approval for treatments that can help with hair loss, such as QLT's product. I think this is most likely because the results are not that much better than those of Propecia's, and/or the side-effects may be worse.
Unless a new drug will have a significantly better overall result than Propecia, in terms of regrowth, then most companies won't bother to get it approved. Look at Avodart for instance. I think the drug companies are aware that people will seek an off-label prescription for a product if it gets approved for some other ailment than hair loss, so long as the company initially submits for approval...
Anyway, this is not all bad news because it means that when something does finally get approved, it will most likely be better than Propecia.
Regards,
Sam
I am not overly suprised with this news. Ever since Propecia was approved it seems that drug companies are not as enthusiastic to try to get approval for treatments that can help with hair loss, such as QLT's product. I think this is most likely because the results are not that much better than those of Propecia's, and/or the side-effects may be worse.
Unless a new drug will have a significantly better overall result than Propecia, in terms of regrowth, then most companies won't bother to get it approved. Look at Avodart for instance. I think the drug companies are aware that people will seek an off-label prescription for a product if it gets approved for some other ailment than hair loss, so long as the company initially submits for approval...
Anyway, this is not all bad news because it means that when something does finally get approved, it will most likely be better than Propecia.
Regards,
Sam