Could a REAL cure for baldness be on the horizon? Hope for millions as new drug is found to ‘reverse hair loss’

It is the day men across the globe long for – a day when they can glance in the mirror free from the worry of being confronted with a thinning head of hair.

Millions suffer the misery of male pattern baldness.

Yet in the last 15 years only two drugs have been approved to treat the condition.

But, according to a team of scientists, that may be about to change.

Pharmaceutical research company, Samumed, has revealed it recently completed a successful trial of a drug that reverses hair loss in men.

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A new drug that reverses hair loss in men may soon be available, after pharmaceutical research company Samumed revealed it recently completed a successful clinical trial

The drug, called SM04554, is designed to help treat androgenetic alpoecia – also known as male pattern baldness, which is common in both men and women.

Approximately 35 million men are affected by baldness in the US, the company said.

The drug is a topical solution of the small molecule compound SM04554, which opens up signalling pathways in the body’s cells.

Those pathways initiate and maintain the growth phase of the hair cycle.

Reduction of those pathways is believed to be responsible for androgenetic alopecia.

SM04554 was tested on men between the ages of 18 and 55 for the clinical trial.

The men showed an increase in hair count and density after the 135 day trial, the company said.

The trial assessed 302 men, who were divided up into three groups.

One group was given a placebo, while another received 0.15 per cent solution of SM04554 and another was given a 0.25 per cent solution.

The men took the drug once a day for 90 days, with a post-treatment follow-up 45 days later.

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The topical solution, called SM04554, was found to increase hair count and hair density in men between the ages of 18 and 55, who suffer from androgenetic alpoecia – male pattern baldness (file photo)

Men who took the 0.15 per cent and 0.25 per cent solutions were found to have more hair – and denser hair – at the end of the study.

In contrast, the placebo group was found to have lower hair count and lower hair density at the end of the 135 days.

The 0.15 per cent solution group had a ‘statistically significant higher increase in both hair count and hair density’ when compared to the placebo group.

Researchers said: ‘SM04554 appears to be safe, well-tolerated, and potentially efficacious.

‘These results will help guide future [androgenetic alpoecia] trials using this treatment.’

The findings were presented at the recent annual meeting of the American academy of Dermatology.