Bradford part of potential regrowth drug for alopecia trial
The University of Bradford has joined a company’s trial for a potential hair regrowth drug for people with a form of alopecia.
Soterios Pharma, a UK-based clinical-stage life sciences company, has released positive clinical trial results for a new drug called STS-01, seen as a potential approved therapy treatment for mild or moderate alopecia areata. It has been tested at 10 different sites across the UK and was shown to be effective with no serious side effects.
During the six-month trial, every day the 158 participants applied the drug as a cream to the area of their scalp affected by hair loss. They were split into five groups for the trial – those given a placebo and the four other groups who received one of four doses of STS-01 (0.25, 0.5, one or two per cent). STS-01 was well tolerated by the participants and showed no major adverse events.
Researchers at the Centre for Skin Sciences at University of Bradford are testing blood samples collected from the participants of the clinical trial, taken beforehand and after six months of treatment. They are using a ProteinSimple Ella Simple Plex System machine to test the blood samples they have received from Soterios Pharma.
Exciting project
Through their analysis, the University of Bradford researchers hope to understand how the drug changes the immune response in the trial’s patients over time that leads to hair regrowth. The university has worked on the project for more than two years. The complete results of the trial will be presented in the future.
Alopecia areata is a form of auto-immune hair loss that will affect around two per cent of people at some point during their lifetime.
Dr David Ansell, Assistant Professor in Life Sciences at the University of Bradford, lead researcher on the project, said: "We are very excited to be working with Soterios to investigate how STS-01 works and hope that through our research we can provide information that will help them to get this very exciting drug onto the market in the near future.
Hair loss is not life threatening but can be one of the most distressing conditions that people can experience, so we would be absolutely thrilled if the few pieces of the jigsaw puzzle provided through our research can contribute towards making a difference to the lives of people suffering from alopecia areata
David Fleet, CEO of Soterios Pharma, said: "This data gives us clarity and confidence in moving into late-stage clinical development for this product.
“We thank all the patients, investigators and healthcare staff who participated in this study."