WNTS and Hair Loss: A closer look at SM04554

Samumed is a US based company which focuses on how drugs targeting the Wnt pathway can be used in human disease. 

This year at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual meeting in Orlando, Samumed presented data on it's Wnt drug SM04554. Study involved 49 men with adrogenetic alopecia who were treated with either a placebo drug or 0.15 % or 0.25 % concentrations. 

Results at day 135 showed that the 0.15 % concentration was more effective than the 0.25 % solution - and both were more effective than the placebo. 

Conclusion 

This is a preliminary study but suggests that exploration of drugs that target the Wnt pathway may be worthwhile to explore. It's clear that Wnt signalling is reduced/impaired in androgenetic alopecia.

Reference 

Yazici et al. Safety and efficacy of a topical treatment (SM04554) for androgenetic alopecia (AGA): Results from a phase 1 Trial. 

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2016.02.544